


Wake Up If It's All You Do

by writeherownstory



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Julie and Luke are best friends first, Julie and the boys are 17-18, Lots of Juke fluff at first, Male-Female Friendship, Or Will It?, Slight references to underaged drinking, The Boys Are Alive, This means lots of platonic/not so platonic cuddling and hugs, Will eventually progress into being something more
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:48:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28125630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writeherownstory/pseuds/writeherownstory
Summary: Christmas has always been a difficult time of the year for Julie, but it's always been okay because she's always had her best friend, Luke. Between their kind of widely successful band and their friends, life has been pretty good but when the press starts a rumor about Luke, it drives a wedge between him and Julie, making the holidays not-so-merry-and-bright.Or, everyone knows Luke and Julie are in love with each other except for them and it just takes drifting apart for them to realize it.
Relationships: Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 42
Kudos: 195





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi all! so this is my first fanfic on AO3, and also my first JATP multi-chapter fic like...ever. I've written fanfics before but never on this site, but I'm excited to try! I've written so many versions of this chapter because I've wanted to post something but I keep changing it so I've finally decided just to post it and see where this goes. This chapter is mostly just a lot of Juke fluff but it's important in setting the foundation of this story so I hope you enjoy!

Julie knew she shouldn’t have been there. 

It was a typical Friday night, at least for any teenager her age. Julie Molina was entirely out of her comfort zone. What she really wanted to be doing was hiding away in her bedroom, dressed in her most comfy pajamas curled up under her blankets. She wanted to be far away from here, from the noise, from the crowd of people, the loud music and obnoxiously drunk people. She wanted to pretend the world didn’t exist for a minute, but after some encouraging words from her best friend Flynn, she’d gotten dressed and ventured out to a party. It was a Christmas themed party, and although Julie didn’t feel too much like being in a festive mood, she figured if nothing else the party in front of her would take her mind off of everything else going on.

The only reason she was really there was because she had been trying to push down the negative feelings that always crept into her thoughts around this time every year. She’d been doing so well lately, and she didn’t want to ruin that. But, she decided, if the alternative was to stay here and watch people be loud and overly obnoxious….she’d rather not. 

Julie managed to slip out of the house without anyone she knew noticing, and made it back to the silence and safety of her car. She let out a sigh of relief as she leaned back into the driver’s seat, basking in the quiet solitude of being away from that stupid party she’d convinced herself to go to. She knew it would’ve been more fun had she told Flynn she was going, or if Luke and the guys were home. 

As if he could somehow read her thoughts—which Julie swore sometimes he could—her phone went off signaling she had a text: 

**Are you still awake????**

_**Is this the same as a ‘you up?’ text?**_

**Very funny, Molina.**

Before she could come up with a response, her phone screen suddenly changed and a familiar face flashed across the screen. She swiped to pick up. “You didn’t have to call me to tell me I’m funny, I already knew that.” 

“Haha,” he deadpanned, but she could hear the smirk in his voice. “You’re hilarious.” 

“What’s up? Why are you up?” she asked, dropping her phone into the cup holder so that she could start driving. 

“I, uh…can’t sleep.” 

She quirked an eyebrow even though he couldn’t see it. “Partying too hard with Reggie and Alex?” 

“Something like that, yeah. What are you doing up? Isn’t it past your bedtime?” 

Julie cringed at the teasing tone in his voice. “If you must know I was at a party.” 

“A party?” He sounded like he was almost in disbelief. “With Flynn?” 

“Uh…no.” 

“Then you and Carrie magically became friends and she somehow convinced you?” 

“…still no.” 

“By yourself?” Julie couldn’t tell if he was upset or just plain surprised. She knew he was protective—sometimes too a fault—but regardless, she had known going to the party wasn’t a good idea. 

“It’s a long story,” she said, turning onto her street. “It’s been a really weird night, but I’m almost home anyway.” 

His tone softened immediately when he said, “I’ve got time.”

“Don’t you think you should sleep? You guys will be driving in the morning.” She pulled up to her house and put the car in park. 

“Actually…we just got to our rest stop for the night.” She heard shuffling in the background on his end of the call. “But if you get out of your car, we can keep talking.” 

Julie furrowed her brow in confusion. “What are you talking about?” She turned to look toward the dark house—knowing neither Carlos or her dad were home—to see Luke, his orange beanie pulled low over his shaggy hair and his flannel jacket pulled over his shoulders. When he saw that she noticed him, he shot her a bright smile. 

“Luke!” Julie shoved her phone in her pocket and fumbled her way out of the car, running to meet him. 

He stood up to catch her as she wrapped her arms around his neck, practically launching herself into his arms. “Hey Jules!” 

She pulled back quickly to survey him, to take in any small changes that may have come about since she last saw him. It had been a few weeks since she’d seen one of her best friends—as he, and their other bandmates Reggie and Alex had gone on a boys’ road trip together. “I thought you weren’t supposed to be home for another couple of days?” 

“Surprise?” he offered weakly, giving her a sheepish smile. “You really thought I’d let you go through this weekend alone?”

Julie smiled softly at him, feeling her stomach flutter with butterflies. “Thank you, Luke,” she said quietly. 

“So what happened tonight? You went out by yourself?” Luke’s voice was filled with concern. 

She shook her head, looking down at her hands. “It’s fine, everything’s fine…I’m just glad you’re here now.”

“Hey,” he took her chin, tilting her head up to meet his eyes. His gaze was always comforting to her. No matter what else was going on around them, whenever she looked into his eyes, it was like everything else disappeared—even though Flynn said that meant she had a crush but that was besides the point. “I’ll always be here for you, Jules.” He grabbed his duffel bag off the steps. “Now come on,” he said offering her his hand. “Let’s get inside.” 

She led the way inside the dark house, the butterflies disappearing in favor of a knot. She’d forgotten when she left earlier that no one would be home tonight. 

Using the flashlight on his phone, Luke made his way through the living room to turn on a lamp and plug in the family’s Christmas tree that she and Carlos put up last week. “Better?” he asked, turning back around to face her. 

Julie gave him a weak smile and nodded from her spot by the front door.

Luke fell back onto the living room couch and patted the spot next to him. 

She wordlessly obliged to his invitation, walking over and sitting next to him on the couch. She could feel his worried gaze on her. 

“You okay?” 

Despite knowing him for so long and being as close as they were, it still amazed Julie how well he could read her. “Yeah, yeah…my thoughts are just going in a lot of different directions right now,” she said quietly. 

He dug around in his pockets momentarily before looking at her sheepishly. “I would say penny for your thoughts…but I don’t have a penny.” 

She let out a short laugh, unable to maintain a bad mood even at his ridiculous attempt at a joke. “You’re such a dork,” she said as she moved to lie down with her head next to his leg. Julie closed her eyes in attempt to calm the whirlwind of thoughts in her head. “I miss her.” It had been a few years since Julie’s mom had passed away, but the anniversary of her passing still weighed heavily on her. 

“I know you do.” 

“Every time the date comes up, its like all my memories of her come flooding back and its like I’m drowning all over again. And I thought that if I didn’t give in to being so sad like I normally do it wouldn’t hurt so much,” she said opening her eyes but still not meeting his gaze. “But it still hurts…and now I have this awful night to remember it by.” 

“Is that why you went to that party?” Luke asked. “By yourself?” 

“I never said it was a _good_ idea,” Julie mumbled. “I thought you weren’t going to be around this year and I…I didn’t want to bother Flynn so I guess I just figured I should…try something new.” She shrugged half-heartedly. 

In years' past, Luke had picked up on her change in behavior around the anniversary and had managed to somehow always stick around whenever it fell. It usually happened without her even asking and she appreciated it. With the boys’ road trip this year, Julie had assumed the date slipped his mind this time. She wasn’t hurt by it necessarily. Why should he sit around and watch her mope on a date that doesn’t really even affect him? 

“Julie, you’re not a bother. Not to me, or Flynn, or the boys, or anyone. Ignoring your feelings will only make things worse. It’s okay to be sad about your mom, no matter how much time has passed.” He cautiously began playing with her hair, making her look up at him finally. “I’m sorry I let you think I wasn’t going to be around this year. I should’ve realized—“

Had she not been so accustomed to their closeness, Julie might’ve noticed the way the butterflies reignited when Luke played with her hair. “It’s okay Luke, you and the guys wanted to go on a trip together. I’m not upset at you for that.” She glanced down at her hands. “So how was the trip? Did you guys do anything exciting?” 

“Oh you know… just a lot of sight seeing, hiking…stuff like that.” 

She raised an eyebrow at his peculiar answer, but decided not to push it. “But it was good?” 

“It was just fun to spend time with Reg and Alex,” he said. “I feel like we haven’t been able to do something like that in forever.” 

She smiled weakly up at him, moving so her head was in his lap. When he didn’t seem phased, she went on, “I’m glad it was a good trip for you guys.” 

“We missed our favorite girl though.” 

“Oh I’ll be sure to let Flynn know,” she joked. 

He shook his head before he said, “Actually it’s this girl Julie, I’m not sure if you’ve met her. She is this insanely talented singer and songwriter. Voice like an angel. Killer smile.” 

Julie’s smile widened before she quickly covered her face. “You are so ridiculous, Luke Patterson.”

“There it is.” He grinned down at her. “Hey! Quit covering your smile, I’ve been without it for too long.” 

She looked up at him again, noticing how concentrated he was on playing with her hair. She sat up slowly to properly face him on the couch. “I know I’ve said it a million times already, but thank you for being here.” 

“I’d do anything for you, Jules. You know that.”

Julie just shook her head at her best friend, unable to come up with some sort of response. They were once again bordering on a topic of conversation neither of them knew how to properly approach, so most of the time they didn’t. All Julie knew was that she was comfortable with Luke. She trusted him. He was one of her best friends in the entire world and she didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that, so she didn’t. 

It suddenly dawned on her to check the time. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she saw that it was almost 1:30 in the morning. She knew Luke would probably want to get home soon, but the idea of staying in the house by herself tonight seemed daunting. Carlos was spending the night at a friend’s house and her dad was out of town at an unavoidable shoot, which he promised he’d be back from as soon as he possibly could. “Luke, do you think—my dad and Carlos are gone for the night and normally I wouldn’t mind but I was wondering if—“ 

“I already talked to your dad, Jules. He said it’s cool if I stay at the house with you tonight.”

“Really?” 

“Yes, really.” The teasing tone came back into his voice. “You think I can’t plan ahead, Molina?”

“I don’t think, I know,” she shot back playfully. 

“Oh yeah?” Luke stood up from the couch, dramatically leaning down to pick her up off the couch and throwing her over his shoulder. “I’ll show you, Julie Molina.” 

“Luke!” she screamed with laughter. “Put me down!” 

“Sorry Jules, no can do but you may want to be careful back there. Alex, Reg, and I had these gnarly burgers on the way home and I don’t think they agree with me.” 

“If you fart with me over your shoulder, Luke Patterson, I will go out to the studio and rip your songbook to shreds.” 

He rolled his eyes, despite knowing he couldn’t see it while she was over his shoulder. “You would not.”   
  
There was a beat of silence before Julie spoke up again, her voice void of any humor. “You really want to make that mistake?”

He quickly scrambled to let her down carefully, and she bit back a grin at the nervous look on his face. “No ma’am.” 

* * *

Luke awoke the next morning to find Julie’s head on his chest, still sound asleep. They’d fallen asleep together in her bed, as they stayed up to talk some more. It wasn’t completely out of the norm that they slept in the same bed, or sometimes they’d fall asleep on the couch together watching a movie or going over a song. But if that ever happened, he usually never heard the end of it from Reggie and Alex who were convinced that he was head over heels for Julie or something crazy like that. Sure he cared a lot about Julie—she was his best friend, his songwriting partner, one of the few people who knew everything there was to know about him, and was still his friend anyway. Why would he do anything to ruin that? It wasn’t like Julie could possibly have any feelings for him regardless. 

Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, he knew that today was going to be hard for Julie so he wanted to do whatever he could to make her more comfortable. If it were up to him, Luke would never move—letting her sleep the day away if that’s what she needed. Despite the fact that he had gotten Ray’s permission to stay with Julie, he still felt weird about him possibly coming home to them sleeping so closely. He carefully attempted to slip out from beneath her, only to cause her to whimper in her sleep, tightening her hold on him. 

Julie’s eyes fluttered open, looking up at him sleepily. “Didn’t you know that becoming my best friend means that you also signed up to be my personal pillow?” 

He grinned. “Is that what I agreed to? I thought only songwriting and being your personal chauffeur was in that contract.”

“It’s an evolving contract,” she said around a yawn, moving to lay on her back. 

“How are you feeling about today?” 

She turned and buried her face into his shoulder. “I need today to not exist.” 

“Do you want to talk about her?” 

There was a momentary pause as he silently but patiently waited for her answer. Over the course of their friendship, Julie had shared small stories about her mom. It wasn’t a whole lot, but he, Reggie and Alex had wordlessly agreed never to push Julie to sharing anything unless she was comfortable. 

She slowly turned so he could see her face again. “On Saturday mornings she’d get up early and go down into the studio and play the piano with all the windows and doors open so anybody passing by could hear,” Julie said, sitting up to lean back against the headboard. “She said if she got used to the idea of people listening while she was playing in the studio then getting on stage wouldn’t be so scary.” 

Luke moved so that he was sitting up properly next to her, a grin tugging at his lips. “Seems like sound logic to me.” 

“You two would’ve gotten along so well,” she went on. She paused, seemingly deep in thought.

Luke gently placed a comforting hand over her own. “Where’s your head at, Jules?” 

“I just wish you could’ve met my mom,” she said, looking over at him. Her eyes were glossy with tears. “I think she would’ve really liked you.” 

He hated how much pain the thought caused her, but he couldn’t help the pride that spread through his chest. It was the biggest compliment in his eyes. “I’m glad you think so.” 

“I miss her so much, Luke.” Her voice broke as she said his name, and he immediately wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to his chest. “Do you think she knows about the band?” she asked quietly. 

“Jules, are you kidding? She’s got the best seat in the house to every one of our shows.” He rubbed her back gently. “And I know she is so proud of you. I don’t need to meet her to know that.” 

“I just wish she were here to see it.” Luke could feel his shirt getting wet, which only made him hug her tighter. They sat like that for a while until her tears subsided, and it was only then that she seemed to notice how his shirt had become an oversized tissue. “OhmyGod… I’m so sorry.” She wiped her eyes furiously, pulling away from his embrace.

“It’s okay Julie,” he chuckled. “It’s just a shirt. I have more.” 

“But this one has sleeves,” she said, her voice still strained from crying. “They’re short, but they’re still sleeves. This is a rare occurrence for you and I’ve ruined it.” 

“There’s that humor that I know and love,” he said smiling brightly at her. 

Julie smiled weakly despite her eyes being puffy from crying. 

Before either of them could say anything more, they both heard the front door slam and then, “Julie? I’m home! Where are you?” Carlos called into the house. 

“I’m upstairs with Luke!” she called back to him. 

“Are you doing gross stuff?” 

Julie rolled her eyes at her little brother’s joke, but turned her face away from Luke. “No!” 

Suddenly the door swung open to reveal Carlos, his backpack still slung over his shoulder. He took in the sight of Julie’s red eyes and Luke wondered if he could see his shirt. “Would you guys want to watch movies today?” 

Luke looked at Julie to try to gage her reaction to Carlos’s request. “I’m cool with anything,” he said shrugging. 

“We can watch movies,” Julie said, looking at Carlos. 

“Yes!” Carlos cheered, throwing his arms in the air. “But first…can we have breakfast?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm already not thrilled with how this chapter turned out, but we need this chapter to get to the rest so here we are! I hope you all enjoy! :)

As Julie and Luke got closer one of her favorite things about their friendship was how comfortable they were with each other. It was no secret that Luke was very physically affectionate, which was clear to see in his interactions with Alex and Reggie early on when she met the boys a few years ago. So once he figured out what she was comfortable with, Julie was inducted into the exclusive group of people that Luke could be platonically and physically affectionate toward without there being any awkward implications to it. Sure it gained them some raised eyebrows while they were at school or out in public when Luke would wrap her in a hug from behind or put his arm around her and people made their assumptions. But it was something Julie had always just brushed off, because it was _Luke_ and they were best friends. She never gave any of it a second thought.

It wasn’t until one day in band practice, they were in between songs, Alex and Reggie going back and forth about something Star Wars related when she just so happened to glance over at Luke who was perched on the arm of the couch, acoustic in his lap, guitar pick hanging out of his mouth, scribbling something in his notebook.

As if he could feel her gaze on him, he looked up, giving her his casual lopsided grin that she’d received so many times, but never before had it made her heart stutter in her chest in such a way that she actually thought something was _wrong,_ until she realized she’d been staring too long and he gave her a concerned look, still strumming his guitar and she gave him a reassuring smile only to literally see the relief flood over his face momentarily did she realize how much she truly _cared_ about Luke, that she had _feelings_ for him that weren’t just best friend related.

Ever since that small interaction, his touch will occasionally send sparks through her skin, ignite the flutter of butterflies in her stomach and _sometimes_ on the rare occasions they have to dress up—like the time he was her date to her cousin’s wedding (Luke in a tux was something she didn’t know she needed in her life but boy, did she need it)—does one look from him make her knees weak.

But that’s only _sometimes._

And even when it does flare up Julie pushed past it because she’d rather stamp down her feelings than change anything about her friendship with Luke.

All this to say, that her head resting in his lap, wrapped in a purple crocheted blanket her mother made when she was younger and Luke’s hand absentmindedly playing with her hair surprisingly did not phase her at all. She and Luke are at one end of the couch with Carlos at the other. He’d pulled out an old worn teddy bear of his their parents gave him when he was born that Julie knew he kept very discreetly tucked away in his bedroom. They’d been watching an endless stream of movies, but none of them minded.

After Carlos came home, Luke had offered to make breakfast while Julie showered and attempted to make it less obvious to her brother that she’d just been crying. She had been quietly coming down the stairs when she could hear Carlos and Luke in the kitchen.

“Julie was crying about our mom, wasn’t she?” Carlos asked. Julie could imagine him sitting at the island, watching Luke cook what she was assuming to be scrambled eggs.

There was a pause where she figured Luke was contemplating what she would want him to say. “Today is just a really hard day for her,” he decided on.

“Luke, no offense but I know today is the anniversary of my mom…” He trailed off slightly before continuing, “I know I play video games most of the time, but I notice when Julie gets sad like before.”

“How are you feeling about it?”

“I miss my mom a lot. Especially now so close to Christmas,” Carlos confessed. “It was her favorite holiday. Anytime we could all be together was her favorite. And I miss her being at my games and cheering the loudest out of any of the other parents.”

Julie smiled fondly at her brother’s memory. Their mother was nothing if not proud of her children in whatever they pursued.

“I’m sure she still watches every game,” Luke told him. “I bet she tells all of the other angels watching about how proud she is.” Julie could hear the grin in his voice.

“Yeah,” Carlos let out a short laugh. “Thanks Luke.”

“No problem dude.”

“Oh, and thanks for being there for my sister too,” Carlos added, seemingly as an after thought.

Julie had finished making her way down the stairs after that, but decided to let Luke and Carlos keep that conversation between them. After breakfast, they ended up staying on the couch for the rest of the day. After a while, the only source of light in the living room was from the TV and the Christmas tree, but she admittedly liked the cozy atmosphere. 

Julie sat up slightly to see Carlos sound asleep, curled around his bear. She turned to look at Luke, only to be slightly startled when he was already looking at her. “Geeze Patterson, I know we’ve been watching movies all day but the back of my head can’t be _that_ interesting.”

He scratched the back of his neck, suddenly avoiding her eyes. “Sorry, spaced out. Was thinking about a song.”

“Oh yeah? Care to share?”

His eyes finally found her’s, a grin slowly growing on his face. “Soon,” he promised.

She accepted his answer, but couldn’t help but tease him. “Are you sure the back of my head won’t be too inspiring?”

“Just keep watching your movie, Molina,” Luke said, gently pushing her head back down to rest on his lap.

Normally Julie would go back and forth with him further, but with Luke playing with her hair and his soft humming in her ear, she found herself drifting off to sleep.

* * *

_My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo_

_My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo without you_

_Hey, yeah, yeah_

_Hey, yeah, yeah_

_My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo without you_

Julie groaned at the sound of her own voice playing what she felt was too early. She leaned over the side of the couch where she, Luke and Carlos fell asleep to pick her phone up off the floor. “Flynn, you better have a really good reason to call this early on a Sunday morning,” she said as she picked up the phone.

“ _You_ better have a good reason for going MIA all weekend! You could’ve been dead for all I knew!” Flynn shouted into her ear.

Flynn was her _best_ friend. They had been practically attached at the hip since they were kids, and before Julie met Luke, Reggie and Alex, before there was any kind of band, back during a time when Julie thought she’d never play music again, there was Flynn. She was the most genuine person Julie knew, and her most fierce support system right next to Carlos and her dad. So when the band started to gain more traction, Flynn stepped in to be the middle _woman_ between Julie and the boys and their label. If there was anything they needed to know, it usually went through Flynn first. As she always told Julie, who better to deliver any kind of news than her best friend?

Julie sat up, glancing at Luke who still seemed to be asleep. She walked into the kitchen, figuring if Flynn was going to chew her out, she might as well spare Luke and Carlos the rude awakening. “Look, I’m sorry, but it’s been a long weekend and I haven’t really been on my phone.”

“So then you _haven’t_ heard?”

Julie turned around as Luke walked into the kitchen and leaned against the counter, clearly still half asleep. “Heard what?” she asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.

“Another label approached Luke about having a solo career and all these news people are going crazy,” Flynn told her. “The fans are going crazy! Everyone thinks Luke is leaving the band.”

“What? That’s crazy,” Julie said shaking her head. “Luke would never leave the band.” She watched as Luke’s eyes widened quickly, pushing off the counter.

“Have you talked to him at all? Isn’t he still on that road trip with Reggie and Alex?” Flynn asked.

Julie narrowed her eyes at Luke, who looked as confused as she felt. “Uh… Flynn, I’m gonna need to call you back.”

“Well if you hear from Luke can you have him call me? It’s hard to control rumors I have no ideaabout. This is _blowing up,_ and we’re gonna need to get a handle on it soon before it does real damage.”

“Oh trust me, he definitely has some explaining to do,” Julie said, glancing at Luke. “I’ll call you back.”

“I feel sorry for that boy when you get ahold of him. Don’t hurt him too bad though. That won’t be good for PR,” Flynn said. “Later girl.”

Julie calmly tucked her phone in her pocket and turned to face Luke. She was careful to keep her expression neutral, still undecided if she had the right to be mad at him or not.

Despite his hair sticking up at odd angles, all traces of sleep were gone from his the rest of his features entirely. “Okay before you get mad at me, you should know—“

“Why would I be mad, Luke? It’s just a rumor.” If she was being honest, she was more confused than anything. How did this happen? Why didn’t Luke _tell her_ it happened? Unless it didn’t? Then where did any of the press people hear about it?

“So you’re not mad?” he asked cautiously, raising an eyebrow at her.

Julie shook her head, folding her arms over her chest. “I’m not mad. I just have one question.”

“ _Okay…_ ” he dragged out his response, as if he were just as clueless as she was.

“Did another label approach you about going solo?”

He paused as if thinking very carefully about what he said, and Julie wasn’t sure if that was reassuring or concerning. Luke was _usually_ pretty smooth, as plenty of the band’s fans were aware. But at the very same time, those who knew him well, knew that Luke was very good putting his foot in his mouth—something Julie usually thought was amusing, except in a situation like the one they were currently in.

“Not…exactly.”

“Then _what_ exactly happened?” She couldn’t help the edge in her voice. Why was he dancing around the subject like it was some sort of game? Why couldn’t he just come out and tell her what was going on?

“Nothing!” He exclaimed loudly, as he launched into an animated explanation, complete with hand gestures and everything. “Me and the boys played a little bit at this shop while we were on the road—it was no big deal, nobody recognized us!—and this guy came up to us afterwards talking about signing us to his label, but I told him we were already signed to a label and perfectly happy where we are.”

As Julie took in his story, she couldn’t help but remember his strangely vague answer when she asked about the boys’ trip the other night. Was this why he was so vague? Why hadn’t he just told her? “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah,” she said, nodding at him. “Okay. If that’s what you say happened then that’s what happened.”

“Jules, you’re freaking me out here,” he said, stepping toward her.

“Why? There’s nothing to be freaked out about. It was a misunderstanding, right? Some guy approached you guys at a shop and maybe _did_ recognize you and leaked it to some reporter or something to get his fifteen minutes of fame,” she reasoned. “The only reason you would have to freak out is if you’re lying, but you’re not because I trust you. A lot.” Julie stepped closer to him so that they were only inches apart, only this time no butterflies dared to beat against her stomach. Instead her stomach seemed to only twist itself in knots. “You’re not lying to me, right Luke?”

They held each other’s gaze, almost as if suspended in time. If this were any other situation, Julie might’ve blushed at the fact that they were so close that she could almost feel his breath on her face.

“You’re keeping something from me,” she said finally.

“What?” Luke’s brow furrowed in confusion. “No I’m not.”

“Then answer my question. Are you lying to me?”

He shook his head slowly, maintaining eye contact the whole time. “No, Julie. I’m not lying to you.”

“Okay,” she said, stepping away from him. “Then I believe you. But you need to call Flynn and talk to her about it because apparently this is blowing up.”

He nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, will do.”

She nodded back at him, pulling her phone out of her pocket and walking out the back door toward the studio. She had quite a few missed calls from Flynn, Alex and Reggie. Including multiple texts from the three of them and her dad. 

Most of the texts were just check-ins that she failed to respond to—Flynn and her dad would probably give her a stern talking to later—and Alex and Reggie’s were mostly from last and this morning, most likely because they’d talked to Flynn.

Julie hated the idea of checking her social media right now. She knew it’d probably be hectic and she hated getting on if she knew she’d be overwhelmed. Luckily she didn’t have to make a choice as Flynn’s photo flashed on her screen again.

“You mean to tell me that you were with Luke _all weekend_ and didn’t think to mention that any of this happened to anyone?”

“Hi to you too?” Julie said, pulling the doors to the studio open. She flipped the lights on and began pacing the length of the studio. “I didn’t know about any of this though, thanks for asking.”

“Luke didn’t tell you? The audacity,” Flynn hissed. “Why wouldn’t he tell you?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Julie cringed at the pain that seeped into her voice. She _wanted_ to believe Luke, but she couldn’t help but feel hurt by the fact that Luke kept this from her. If it was no big deal, why didn’t he mention it?

“If he didn’t tell you, maybe Reggie and Alex would?”

“No way! I’m not putting them in the middle of this—not that there’s anything to be put in the middle of—but if Reggie and Alex were there when this guy came up to them, why can’t you just ask them what happened?”

“They both said it was Luke’s story to tell…whatever _that_ means.” Julie could hear the eye roll in her best friend’s voice and shook her head. “But I already talked to Luke. We’ve got a little damage control to do, but nothing too crazy. Just make sure if you post on social media, you guys are emphasizing you’re all still _together_ as a band.”

“Right. Thanks Flynn.”

“Anything for my girl. But Jules, are you sure you’re okay with all of this?”

“Yeah, of course,” Julie said nodding, trying to convince herself more than Flynn. “It was just a big misunderstanding.”

“I’m sure he was just doing the typical boy thing and just figured it wasn’t worth mentioning.”

“But he’s not just some guy, he’s—I mean, he’s not special, but he’s not _not_ special—“

“Let me stop you before you hurt yourself,” Flynn interrupted her. “We’ve established that you have feelings for Luke—“

Julie’s face flushed at her best friend’s assertiveness. “I do _not—_!”

“And despite your _denial_ of these feelings, they exist. And he’s still your friend so it’s completely understandable that you’re hurt by him keeping this from you. Because to you, he’s not just some guy. He’s _Luke,_ and maybe I don’t know him as well as you, but I know that that boy would never do anything to hurt you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this wasn't as bad as I think it was...but uh...would anyone be interested in a oneshot of Julie taking Luke to her cousin's wedding? 👀 like she mentions in this chapter? I can't stop thinking about it now...hmmmm...


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all so much for your comments and support!! I'm so glad you're enjoying this story! I haven't written any kind of multi-chapter fanfic in a LONG time and everyone has been so kind so it is much appreciated :) 
> 
> I'm sorry for a bit of a delay, with the holidays I haven't been able to write, and I've kind of changed my plans for this story a little bit, so it might be a little longer between updates :) also please let me know if the lil text conversation between Luke and Alex is readable. I don't trust myself to use a text skin just yet, ha. 
> 
> other than that, I hope you enjoy!

Scrolling through social media proved to be exactly like she thought it would. There were so many posts on Instagram and Twitter with a screenshot of the article that Julie assumed started it all. The captions paired with the photo varied but the damage was still the same. Some people thought Luke really was leaving, some speculated that they’d kicked him out, that there was a fight, creative differences, it went on and on and on. Before she knew it, Julie had gone down a rabbit hole of posts, all of which were some negative variation of this rumor. ****

“Jules?” His voice made her jump, causing her to almost drop her phone. “Sorry,” he said, a sheepish grin spreading across his face.

“What’s up?” she asked, standing up from the couch as he cautiously walked into the studio.

“Are you okay?”

“Luke, I told you I’m not mad at you—“

“That’s not what I asked,” Luke interrupted, walking toward her. “I asked if _you_ are okay.”

Julie glanced down at her phone again. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“I thought we don’t lie to each other,” he said, ducking to catch her gaze.

Her head shot up, eyes narrowing at him. “Yeah well, I also thought we didn’t keep things from each other. So I guess we were both wrong.” 

“So you _are_ mad at me.”

“No,” she sighed exasperatedly, running a hand through her already messy curls. “I’m not _mad_ Luke, I’m _hurt_ that you would keep this from me.”

Luke’s face fell, his shoulders deflating in defeat. “Jules…”

She sat back onto the couch as he made his way over to sit, making sure to leave a generous amount of space between them.

“I’m sorry that I kept this from you. I didn’t think it was important enough to tell you, and besides that, I didn’t want to worry you because I’m not leaving the band. I never meant to hurt you though, Jules, you have to know that.”

“I know. But it doesn’t just affect you or me, it affects the whole band. Our fans are freaking out because of it.” She gestured to the phone in her hand, looking up to see his hazel eyes gazing back at her. “Don’t look at me like that!”

He blinked, her outburst taking him by surprise. “Like what?”

“You do this… _thing_ …with your eyes,” Julie said, looking back at him. “You look like a sad puppy.”

Luke tried to pout, but she could see him trying to hold back a laugh. “A sad puppy? Is that what you think of me?”

“No. Sometimes you just look like a kicked puppy. That’s worse.”

He scoffed in disbelief, a smile threatening to overtake his face. “Some best friend you are!”

“If I can’t be honest with you, who can?” she joked, grinning at him. It faded quickly when her phone chimed, signaling that she had yet another notification.

“Hey.” Luke reached over, pulling the phone from her grasp—but not without a sound of protest from Julie. “No more looking at your phone. I’m gonna call Flynn, help her straighten this out and then you, me and Carlos are gonna make Christmas cookies.”

She reached for her phone. “Luke, I—“

He held the phone above both of their heads. “You’re really gonna argue against Christmas cookies right now?”

Julie stood up, pulling her phone from his grip. “If you would’ve let me finish, I was _going_ to sayI need to call my dad. _Then_ we can make cookies with Carlos.”

He quickly stood up next to her, a satisfied smirk on his face. “Sounds like a plan, boss.”

There was a small nagging feeling in her gut that, despite their conversation, wanted to wipe the look off his face. Julie glanced up at him. “…Last one to the house has to do the dishes!” She said, quickly, already turning to sprint out of the studio.

Luke’s eyes widened when he realized what she said, quickly running after her. “Get back here, Molina!”

* * *

“Luke? Is that you?”

Luke grimaced as he tried to tip toe out of the foyer of his parents’ house toward his room, only to be stopped by the sound of his mom’s voice coming from the kitchen. He’d _slightly_ been avoiding coming home. Although it worked out incredibly well that he knew Julie would need him that weekend—and his parents would _never_ get mad at him for being with Julie—he _did_ technically take off on a road trip with Alex and Reggie without much more than a “See you when I get back!” He knew he was going to have to deal with the consequences at some point, but he was hoping to avoid it for as long as possible.

“Could you come in here, please?”

Luke trudged into the kitchen to see both of his parents sitting at the small table. The house was eerily quiet, and his parents strangely calm manner sent waves of anxiety washing over him. It wasn’t that they never got along, but it was difficult for them to have a conversation that didn’t end in yelling. Besides that, Luke wasn’t afraid to yell back, he just preferred not to. He didn’t like yelling at them, but it seemed his parents usually knew how to get under his skin in just the right way…

“Busy weekend?” Emily asked, her face neutral.

“I-I was with Julie,” he managed, glancing back and forth between them. “It’s the anniversary of her mom’s passing and it’s really hard for her around the holidays.” He hated using Julie or her mom as any kind of an excuse, but he hoped that would soften whatever argument this conversation may lead to. Luke slowly reached into his duffel bag, pulling out a zip lock bag of cookies, holding them up for his parents to see. “She sent me with cookies for you guys.”

“You can’t expect us to believe that you’ve been camped out at the Molina’s house for the past few weeks,” Mitch spoke up finally. “Where’ve you been, Luke?”

“I told you guys I was going on a road trip with Alex and Reggie,” he said. “I-I know I didn’t give a lot of details, but I said I’d be back.”

“You can’t keep disappearing, Luke. You’re eighteen now, you’re not a kid anymore,” Mitch said.

Luke’s brow furrowed, feeling the anger ignite in his chest. “If I’m not a kid anymore, why do you keep treating me like one?”

“Because you insist on acting like one!” Emily snapped suddenly. “You don’t tell us _anything!_ The only time we get anything from you is when we confront you like this. You disappear for days at a time, only to come back with vague excuses about being off God only knows where with Alex and Reggie! I’m beginning to think you spend too much time with those boys for them to be a good influence on you.”

He could feel his face heat up, the outrage beginning to burn him from the inside out. Luke wasn’t a generally angry person, but any mention of his friends and any chance at him being calm suddenly went out the window. “You don’t even know them!” He shot back. “I’ve known them for _years_ and you’ve barely tried to get to know them. The only reason you know Julie is because she’s come over to help me with homework.”

“And Julie’s been very good for you,” Mitch put in, clearly trying to remain the calm one.

“You _do_ realize that she’s the lead singer of our band right? The one I also have with Alex and Reggie? Just because she helps me with my homework doesn’t mean she can’t love music too.”

“There’s nothing wrong with enjoying music as a hobby—“

“But it’s not just a hobby, Mom!” Luke cut her off. “It’s what I want to do with the rest of my life. You keep putting it down—“

“You’re not letting her finish, Luke,” Mitch said, and Luke could hear the frustration seeping into his voice now. “We’re not putting music down, we just want you to realize it may not be the most sustainable career.”

“You’re kidding me right? Julie and the Phantoms is _signed_ to a legitimate label. We’ve put out an entire album already. We’re in talks to go on tour this summer. It already _is_ my career. But you’re too busy worrying about how it can’t be a career to see that it already is!” He took a breath before he continued, “I don’t tell you everything. I admit that. That’s on me. But I have _always_ told you about our shows. I even write them on Mom’s calendar on the fridge, but you’ve never come. Not to one show.”

His parents seemed stunned into silence, and he wasn’t sure if it made him more upset or satisfied that he’d finally gotten his point across.

Without another word, he turned and stormed out of the kitchen, making a beeline for his room and throwing the door shut behind him. Luke fell onto his bed, his phone already in hand. He scrolled through his contacts, immediately stopping on Julie’s name but then hesitated and tapped Alex’s name instead.

**hey dude, you around?** ****

**hey dude, you’re alive?** ****

**funny.** ****

**no I’m being serious. You survived**

**the** **wrath of Julie AND Flynn???**

**And lived** **to tell the tale? Or am I**

**talking to a ghost?**

**I wish I was a ghost. Then I wouldn’t**

**have** **to worry about parents.**

**was it bad?**

**no worse than the usual.**

**I’m sorry man. Do you need to talk?**

**This weekend has been kind of crazy**

**I haven’t even checked online yet.**

**Flynn said it was crazy. Julie was**

**so worried.**

**what happened with that guy? I thought**

**you said it was nothing ???**

**I thought it _was_ nothing. Until it **

**came back to bite me**

**I’m sure Flynn will get it figured out.**

**Reg and I are here for ya**

**Thanks Alex. Maybe I’ll swing by later.**

**I think I just want to be alone right now.**

**Okay… just don’t do anything stupid**

**No promises**

Luke put his phone down on his bed, sitting up suddenly to reach for his bag. He dug around in his bag, looking for the familiar black composition notebook that safely kept his stream of lyrics together in one place. Why wasn’t it there? He packed it in there, hadn’t he? He rummaged through the duffel bag again, more purposefully this time, in case he’d missed it before. He still couldn’t find it. He got up from his bed, feeling the panic rise in his stomach as he moved toward his desk, on the off chance it somehow ended up in the mess of his desktop.

When that still turned up nothing, he picked up his phone from his bed, dialing Reggie’s number this time.

“Luke!” came the familiar voice after three rings. “What’s up, man?”

“Hey Reg! Are you and Alex together?”

“Yeah, we’re actually at Julie’s in the studio—“

“Is Julie there with you?”

“Uh… no, she said she wanted to spend some time with her dad and Carlos tonight,” Reggie said, sounding slightly confused.

Luke let out a shaky breath. “Can I meet you guys there?”

“Sure Luke, but are you okay?” 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, I just—I’ll explain when I see you guys, okay?”

“Yeah sure, dude. Just be careful okay?”

Luke assured his friends that he’d be fine, and quickly but quietly made his way downstairs and slipped out the door to jog toward his car. He drove the familiar route to Julie’s house, his thoughts racing with worry. If he didn’t find that notebook, what would he do? It held all of his thoughts, everything he couldn’t find the courage to say out loud were etched on it’s pages in his mostly indecipherable scrawl. Even beyond that, it had all the band’s songs— _his_ and Julie’s work that wasn’t written anywhere else; songs they were still just working on and hadn't released yet.

He pulled up outside the Molina house, easily unlocked the back gate and slipped into the studio doors, only to be met with frantic questions from his bandmates.

“Luke, what the heck is going on?”

“Why are you being so cryptic?”

“Reg, listen, did I happen to leave my song book in the van?” Luke asked, striding over toward the grand piano.

“Uhh… I don’t think so. Why?”

“Yeah, I just must’ve put it down and I can’t remember where,” Luke mumbled, as he glanced around the piano. “Do you mind looking in the van for me?”

“Yeah sure, dude.” Reggie hesitated as he and Alex watched as Luke moved away from the piano and climbed up the steps to the loft, hearing him shuffle around in the somewhat forgotten storage space.

Alex stepped toward the loft, looking up at the “Dude, what is going on? Why didn’t you want Julie here? You’re acting really weird.”

“I’m _fine,_ ” Luke snapped, immediately wincing at his own words. “I’m sorry guys. I just really can’t lose that notebook.”

Reggie slipped out of the studio to check the van, leaving Alex to watch as Luke rummaged through the loft. “Does this have anything to do with that guy that spread all these rumors?” Alex asked.

“No, no—well, not exactly. I just got into an argument with my parents and I wanted to write a bit but now I can’t find my song book.”

“Maybe you left it in Julie’s house?” Reggie suggested as he re-entered the studio. “Cause it’s not in the van. Sorry, man.”

Luke’s shoulders drooped in defeat, as he paused in his search of the loft, leaning over the wooden railing. “It’s okay, Reg. Thanks for trying.”

“Well, maybe you want to explain what happened this weekend? Because I’m a little confused,” Alex said, as Luke climbed down from the loft again.

“You guys were there, you saw what happened.”

“But something has to be missing because a guy casually slipping us his card has turned into people somehow thinking you’re leaving the band,” Alex said, tilting his head to the side as he looked at the guitar player.

Luke sighed, running his hands through his hair frustratedly. “It’s just that… that’s not exactly the story I told Julie and Flynn.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so glad you guys are liking this story!! I apologize in advance for the angst.... I do best at writing fluffy or hurt/comfort Juke (because who doesn't love that) but sometimes I can vibe with a little angst. I hope you all enjoy the new chapter!

Prior to meeting Julie, Luke, Reggie and Alex were a band all on their own, known as Sunset Curve (“tell your friends!”). It had started off mostly as a hobby—something to do in their free time together. Once it had come time for high school, they had gotten a bit more serious about it, thus devoting more time and energy to the band and everything that entailed. (Much to all of their parents’ dismay, but that’s not the point.)

For Luke especially, that meant being able to express himself so much more freely than he ever could in a typical conversation. It was part of the reason he had such a hard time talking with his parents: he couldn’t find the words to convey what he meant, and the only way he felt he could best do that was something his parents had always been against. It was kind of a vicious cycle. Besides Reggie and Alex, barely anyone had heard his lyrics or the music they wrote. But with the idea of the band becoming more serious, his lyrics would finally get out there, be heard by someone else. Even if it wasn’t exactly his parents listening, someone was. Someone had the opportunity to _connect_ with their music. The thought excited him.

But then Luke ran into Julie one day after school as she stared at the piano through the window into Mrs. Harrison’s classroom (“If I didn’t know any better I’d say you and that grand piano have some history”) and their friendship had grown from there. It had been Luke who gently coaxed Julie into sitting at the piano long enough to realize it wasn’t as daunting as her thoughts made it seem. As they spent more time together, their stories unravelled, finding a strange comfort within each other that they hadn’t exactly found with anyone else in their lives.

Almost immediately, Luke became protective of Julie and their friendship. The girl had suffered through so much, and if he had anything to do with it, she wouldn’t suffer any more. This need to protect her was heightened when she entrusted him with lyrics straight out her dream box, something that she’d explained that she kept very private, and came to him when she missed her mom.

When Julie and the Phantoms became more well known, he was ecstatic—being able to do what we loves with the people who meant the most to him? Writing and playing and _connecting_ with other people, it was like a dream. He could see how Julie’s eyes lit up when they finally got a melody just right or found a lyric that perfectly fit. The smile that graced her features when she sang was practically magic, making Luke’s heart feel so full that he could combust right then and there and he wouldn’t even be mad about it because it was so _Julie._ The fact that he got to witness her so in her element was a privilege he never let himself forget about. And he’d do anything to protect that magic at all costs.

So when a man approached Luke after doing an impromptu performance on their trip, Luke already knew his answer.

They hopped off the small stage, Luke patting his boys on the back before exclaiming he needed to pee and running off to find the bathroom of the place. He exited the bathroom into a narrow hallway when a man, who he assumed had been waiting to the use the bathroom after him, stepped in his way.

“That was quite the performance out there,” the man, who was wearing a a dark suit, save for a white collared shirt underneath which Luke noted not only was it a little overdressed for the venue but also a little outdated, like 1920s outdated.

“Thank you,” Luke said, shooting him a glowing smile as he went to move past him.

“You know,” the man’s voice called after him. “You have a lot of talent to just be playing these hole in the wall places.” The man turned to face him, and Luke couldn’t help but notice how his bright blue eyes contrasted the rest of his attire.

“Smaller venues are a bit more chill,” Luke said nonchalantly. “You can connect with people more easily.”

“Very true,” the man said, flashing his own blinding smile. He stepped closer to Luke. “But I’d hate to see your potential be _wasted_ as just a guitarist.” The man continued to walk toward Luke, his blue eyes almost… hypnotic.

“I-I’m not _just_ a guitarist—we’re in a band. Our lead singer she’s…she’s back in LA.” The thought of Julie made his heart beat a little faster—not that he’d tell anyone that. “Maybe you’ve heard of us? Julie and the Phantoms?”

A look of recognition crossed the man’s face. “The name _does_ ring a bell, although I can’t say I’ve had the privilege of listening to your music.” He paused as he was once again standing directly in front of Luke. “Which is why I think you’d do so much _better_ as a solo artist”

Luke flinched at the words, clearly offended that anyone would ever suggest such a thing to him. Solo? What was the point of living the dream if he couldn’t do it with his best friends by his side? “Uh, I’m sorry, Mr….?”

“Covington,” the man supplied with a grin. “Caleb Covington of HGC Records.”

“Well uh, I’m sorry Mr. Covington, but I’m already apart of a band. We’re already signed to a label and we’re very happy where we are.”

Luke turned to walk away again, but Caleb’s voice stopped him. “How difficult it must be to make any sort of connection with anyone while in a band—always having to go with what everyone else wants. Imagine being able to _connect_ with someone one on one, to soak in the applause that is solely meant for _you._ ”

“Look, I’m sure what you’re offering is great and all, but I’m not interested,” Luke said firmly, turning and walking back over to the booth he and the boys had claimed before they’d played.

“I was beginning to think you fell in,” Alex said, as Luke slid into his seat across from him and Reggie. “What took you so long?”

“I think that’s for me to know and you to dream about.” Luke grinned with a wink at the drummer.

The blonde haired, pink hoodie clad boy shook his head at his friend. “Don’t ever use that as a pick-up line, please.”

Luke turned to sift through his backpack he’d brought with him, pulling out the tattered notebookhe used to write songs. Resting it flat on the table top, Luke flipped to a fresh page, scribbling something down.

“Find some inspiration in the bathroom, Luke?” Reggie asked, raising an eyebrow at him. “I mean, no judgement here. You can’t help when it strikes.”

“Nah, there’s been a line in my head and I want to get it down before I forget.” Luke leaned over his notebook as a shadow cast over the table, causing all three of them to look up.

“Impressive set, boys,” Caleb said, grinning at them all. He seemed to pretend he and Luke’s conversation didn’t happen. “If you’re ever looking to get serious, feel free to contact me. My label would kill to represent talent like yours.” He glanced at Luke momentarily before he slipped a card on the table and swiftly made his way toward the exit.

“He must not recognize us,” Reggie said, staring after him. “Interesting taste in style though.”

“ _That’s_ what you notice?” Alex looked at the bassist, clearly exasperated.

“It doesn’t matter,” Luke snapped loudly, swiping the card off the table and shoving it in his pocket. “We’re not looking to get signed by some other label. Especially not without Julie.”

Reggie and Alex looked confused at his reaction to Caleb approaching them, but let the conversation drop. Eventually when the boys had their fill of live music, they gathered up their things and made their way out of the diner, Luke following after Reggie and Alex.

They made their way down the sidewalk toward the spot where Reggie had parked the van, and had Luke not been humming a melody over and over in his head, he might’ve heard the sounds of an approaching skateboarder coming up behind him before they barreled into each other, sending them both to the ground and the content of both of their backpacks flying out onto the sidewalk.

* * *

Reggie’s eyes widened in shock, while Alex’s gaze narrowed on him. “So you…you _lied_ to Julie and Flynn?” Reggie asked quietly, as if taking personal offense to his actions.

“Was your beanie on too tight or something?” Alex snapped, the sarcasm evident in his own voice. “Why would you lie to our friends? To _Julie?_ ”

“Keep your voice down,” Luke said, glancing out the small windows of the studio doors. “I did itbecause I didn’t want to worry Julie.”

“Worry about what? It’s not like you’re actually leaving the band right?” Alex asked.

“No, of course not. But after that Caleb guy came up to me and then he left us with his card…” Luke trailed off, remembering how he and the long haired skateboarder had scrambled to pick up their belongings off the sidewalk. “The skateboarder!” he shouted suddenly, causing Reggie and Alex to jump.

“You mean the one who nailed you on our way out of that diner?” Reggie clarified.

“Yes! I mean, no! Well, yes, but that’s not the point! When he ran into me, we both fell and dropped our stuff. He probably accidentally grabbed my notebook,” Luke explained hurriedly.

Reggie seemed to be sheepishly skeptical about Luke’s realization. He was normally the optimistic one, but instead he said, “Not to be a downer but uh… even if he does have it, how are we supposed to find him? We don’t even know his name, or how to figure it out.”

“Willie,” Alex spoke up quietly. “His name is Willie.”

Reggie and Luke turned to look at the drummer, who had seemingly lost all the previous annoyance in his features only to be replaced with a shyness that neither Luke nor Reggie had seen in a long time. “You know who he is, Alex?” Luke asked gently.

“Yeah… he, uh… he and I met earlier that day. We followed each other on Instagram,” Alex admitted, avoiding eye contact with either of his best friends.

Reggie and Luke shared a quick glance before Luke spoke up again. “Do you think you could get ahold of him? See if he has my notebook?”

Alex hesitated, but ultimately nodded. “Yeah, yeah I could try.”

“Look at it this way, it’d be a great conversation starter,” Reggie encouraged him.

“Why would I…? I don’t know what you mean.” Alex shook his head at them, still not making eye contact. Before either of them could speak up again though, it seemed as though his previous frustration reignited within him, as he shot Luke a glare. “Don’t think this means you’re off the hook for lying to Julie and Flynn.”

“I know, I know,” Luke said, putting his hands up in front of him. “But I only did it because I didn’t want Julie to worry about it. And if I told Flynn, she would’ve told Julie.”

“Don’t you think it’d be worse if Julie found out you lied to her, rather than just coming clean and telling her what actually happened?” Reggie asked.

“Yeah, we told her to ask you because we _thought_ you’d just tell her the truth,” Alex added.

“So you _were_ lying to me?” The sound of the new voice startled the three boys. Alex and Reggie freezing in their stances, Luke’s eyes widening as Julie stepped inside the studio, arms folded over her chest. Her eyes were narrowed in a glare, a look Luke wasn’t used to. It made his stomach turn.

Luke took a tentative step forward, past the boys toward her. “Jules, I can explain—“

“Don’t ‘Jules’ me,” she snapped. “I asked you about this and you looked me in the eye and _lied_?”

“I only did it because—“

“Because what, Luke? Name one _good_ reason you could possibly have to lie to me not once but twice in one day. I’d really love to hear it.” Julie looked at him expectantly, giving him the chance to think about his answer.

“I didn’t want to make this into something else you needed to worry about right now,” Luke explained, attempting to keep himself calm. He wasn’t angry at Julie, but her accusatory tone was reminding him too much of his parents right now and he didn’t know if he wanted to get angry or burst into tears. “You’ve got a lot going on and I didn’t want to add to that.”

She bit her lip in hesitation before going on, “I think I can decide what I can and can’t handle right now, if that’s okay with you. But now I have to go call Flynn and explain what really happened so that she can get this under control before it gets any more out of hand.”

“Julie, I’m sorry…” He took another step forward, reaching out to her, only for her to flinch away from him.

“ _Don’t_ touch me, Luke,” she snapped, wrapping her arms tighter around herself. She let out a shaky breath before looking past him, toward their other bandmates, who had finally turned around to face her. “I came out here because I was going to let you know Flynn got us a gig at Eats and Beats.”

There was an awkward silence as none of them knew how to respond to this news. Normally, they’d be ecstatic, the news of a new gig only meant yet another opportunity to do what they loved. But now, the tension in the studio weighed heavily in the air between the four of them, probably for the first time ever. It had always been light and easy between them, but now it felt off and they all could feel it.

“It’s supposed to be a holiday showcase, so I thought we should start rehearsals tomorrow,” Julie added quietly.

“Same time as usual?” Reggie asked hesitantly from behind Luke.

Julie nodded and then without looking at any of them added, “Be sure to shut the lights off when you guys leave, okay?”

“Yeah, will do,” Alex assured her softly.

Without another word, Julie left the studio, the only sound being the large doors shutting behind her.

Luke squeezed his eyes shut, trying to drown out the day’s arguments as they played on a constant loop in his brain. He ran his hands through his hair, pulling at the shaggy locks in frustration. How did he always manage to screw things up?

“Luke…” Alex’s soft voice came from behind him.

Luke turned around to face his friends again, opening his eyes only for his vision to be blurred by the tears that had gathered without his permission. “ _Please_ don’t say I told you so, okay? I already know I screwed up.”

“I was just gonna say if you need somewhere to crash, you can stay at my house,” Alex offered gently.

“Yeah and no matter what happens, we’re still here for you, buddy,” Reggie added.

Luke nodded, grateful for his friends and their understanding.

“Even when you act like an idiot, because we know you will,” Alex said, his tone turned to that of teasing with Reggie nodding eagerly in agreement. “We still love you anyway.”

Luke’s mouth twitched into a small semblance of a smile as he blinked away the tears that had threatened to fall. “Thanks guys.”

That night, Luke laid restlessly on Alex’s bedroom floor. He knew he wouldn’t sleep regardless of where he was, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t try. He also knew that he would need the sleep for their rehearsals tomorrow, despite the fact that he was actually _dreading_ rehearsals.

Luke knew that rehearsal would be different, and despite the disagreement both Luke and Julie were able to coexist in the same space. They just never looked at each other, didn’t share the mic at all, and it affected their performances a lot more than they both realized. They were playing just like they always had but it wasn’t with the same passion and energy that usually filled the studio when they played.

And it went on for days. Luke didn’t go home, despite the desperate texts from both of his parents that seemed apologetic, but he knew better. He didn’t sleep as he stayed on Alex’s floor, but sometimes he laid there with his eyes shut just to give himself the pretense of rest. Alex had reached out to Willie about Luke’s songbook but they hadn’t heard back from him yet. Worst of all, he didn’t talk to Julie. They didn’t text, didn’t randomly call each other, and he was always sure to keep a safe distance from her during rehearsals. Every time he saw her, the last words she directed toward him played in his head, reminding him he’d betrayed her trust, hurt her, and though he hoped all she needed was some space, the longer their silence went on, the lower he sunk.

It wasn’t like he felt bad for himself either. If anything, it was the opposite. He screwed it up on his own and he knew that, but he didn’t know how to go about fixing it. Julie didn’t want to hear his apology and he didn’t have the energy to fight with his parents again.

* * *

“He _lied_ to me, Flynn! Not once but _twice!_ He looked me dead in the eye and he _lied!_ After I gave him every chance to tell me the truth, to be understanding, he _lied_ to my face! How could he?!” Julie exclaimed through the phone to her best friend. “After everything we’ve been through and spending the whole weekend together, he _lied_ to me! How can I trust him again? If I can’t trust him to tell me the truth about this, what can I trust him with?”

“You do realize this is a _boy_ we’re talking about right? They can’t be trusted,” Flynn told her matter-of-factly.

“But Luke is…” she trailed off, stopping herself. _Luke is different. He’s not just_ any _boy._ It was what she’d said to Flynn before.

“Luke _is_ still a boy who makes stupid mistakes and you have every right to be upset with him.”

“Yeah…you’re right.” She tried to sound firm, but she could feel her previous outrage dwindling.

“Don’t let him off the hook, Jules! He deserves to feel guilty for lying to your face. I’m sure you both will talk it out and everything will be fine, but he has to know that he betrayed your trust,” Flynn said.

“I just can’t believe he would lie to me.” Julie sat on the edge of her bed, a foreign feeling filling up her chest. She’d never felt this way before, at least not toward Luke. But she was no longer angry, instead she was hurt… by Luke. They’d never navigated something like this before. Maybe she was just overreacting. She opened her mouth to say so to Flynn, but her best friend beat her to it.

“Don’t make excuses for him, Jules. He hurt you. Just because he’s got puppy dog eyes and a cute smile doesn’t mean he’s immune to putting his foot in his mouth…or whatever it is boys do when they mess up,” she said. “Your feelings are your feelings. You’re _not_ overreacting.”

With Flynn’s words echoing in her mind, rehearsals were…different to say the least. Julie knew that they had the holiday showcase to get ready for—which she wasn’t entirely excited for in the first place, but she had been willing to put aside the melancholy feeling that had been hovering over her since last week—until there was this _issue_ that she hated.

As they played through their tentative set list, they didn’t sound _bad_ exactly, they just didn’t sound… right. She’d been avoiding looking at Luke and she had a feeling he was doing the same. Although she did manage to sneak a glance at him once or twice when she thought he wasn’t looking, and even in those brief looks it was easy to see the dark circles that had appeared under his eyes. Had he really been losing sleep over what she said? Or was it something else? He would’ve come to her if something was really wrong, wouldn’t he?

_You’re supposed to be mad at him, Molina,_ she reminded herself. _He lied to you. You need to make sure he knows he hurt you. You can't forgive him any time he flashes those cute hazel eyes at you._ And so she continued to fume for a few days. But as the days went by, each time she saw Luke, he look more and more run down and her worry was beginning to overtake her anger.

It wasn’t until they were in the middle of playing _Great_ when Luke fumbled a chord on his guitar solo toward the end of the song that he stopped abruptly, causing the rest of them to stop in surprise.

“Luke, what’s wrong?” Julie asked, pushing her mic away from her.

“Oh, so now we’re on speaking terms?” Luke snapped, rolling his eyes at her. It wasn’t playful or teasing like he normally would’ve been, making her flinch back.

“Hey chill, Luke!” Alex snapped back at him, as though he’d seen her react.

Although his words hurt, it only sparked her anger again. “Just because I’m still mad at you doesn’t mean I don’t care about you!”

Luke hesitated, shaking his head as he shrugged off his guitar, turning his eyes toward the ground. “I-I…I just need some air.” He stalked out of the studio, and Julie immediately turned to face her other bandmates.

“What’s going on with him?” she asked, glancing back and forth between them. Her anger was ebbing away into worry.

Alex and Reggie shared a look. She could tell they were both worried too, but it seemed like they knew something she didn’t.

“I know the last time we said this it didn’t turn out so well,” Alex spoke up more gently this time. “But this is something Luke has to explain. And since you guys aren’t speaking right now, it’s not really up to us to tell you.”

Julie’s shoulders slumped in defeat. She did understand and she loved that Alex and Reggie were so willing to protect Luke, but she almost wished they hadn’t told her anything. “I’m still mad at him,” she said, staring at the studio doors where she’d last seen him. “But I hope he’s okay.”

“We’re sorry Julie,” Reggie said. “But we’re looking out for him, we promise.”

She couldn’t help the small smile that the bassist’s words provoked from her. “I know you are.” But it didn’t make her worry any less. Whether or not they could tell her anything, Reggie and Alex had indirectly confirmed that something was wrong, only adding to her list of feelings she wasn’t sure how to navigate.

“We should probably go check on him,” Alex said, getting up from his place behind the drums and looking at Reggie.

Reggie quickly took off his bass, placing it in its stand nearby and followed Alex out of the studio.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I think) this is a repost because the updated date was wrong BUT I'm so sorry this took so long to get out, I'm trying to work on multiple writing projects before I go back to school for the semester so in exchange this chapter is a little longer than usual. thank you so much to everyone who has been reading and commenting and even if you don't comment, you are so appreciated!! hope ya'll enjoy <3

“He’s not out there,” Alex said as he and Reggie come running back into the studio.

Julie stood up from the keyboard, the ever present knot in her stomach tightening. “He left? Is his car out front?”

“We think he just walked out and kept going,” Reggie said, his normally calm expression replaced with one of worry. “He couldn’t have gotten far, right?”

“I’ll go check the beach if you guys check downtown?” Julie said, making her way toward the studio doors. “Whoever finds him texts the other?”

“Of course,” Alex assured her, as he and Reggie followed her lead out of the studio toward their respective cars.

Her brain seemed to be on autopilot as she got in the car and drove to the beach that she and the boys spent so many random days at. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to be the one to find him or not. Based on his previous reaction to her, she wasn’t sure if they’d actually be able to talk or if they’d just end up snapping at each other, only this time in public. Even if they were able to talk, what was she going to say? She parked and made her way toward the beach, thankful she chose to wear a sweater today with the chill in the air. She scanned the pier until her eyes fell on a familiar flannel clad figure, sitting on a bench overlooking the water.

Julie took a deep breath as she carefully approached him. Before she could think too much about it, she sat down on the opposite end of the bench and heard herself saying, “Did you know that when you’re mad you get a little wrinkle right between your eyebrows?”

She saw a smirk flicker across his face, but it quickly disappeared as if he were trying to hide any reaction from her.

“If you keep your face like that for too long it’ll get stuck that way,” she went on.

“Are you sure I don’t look like a kicked puppy?” he grumbled over his shoulder, not looking up at her.

“Actually, you currently look like an angry kitten,” Julie told him, keeping her face neutral.

Luke let out a breath and she could tell he was trying to keep himself from laughing. “Julie Molina, you are…the _most_ annoying person I’ve ever met.”

His teasing tone made Julie grin, but it faltered as she turned to face him on the bench. “What’s going on, Luke?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said, squinting out at the water. She realized that he hadn’t looked at her since she sat down.

“Don’t shut me out,” she warned. “You’ve always been there for me. Let me be here for you.”

“But I lied to you. Aren’t you still mad at me?”

Julie sighed. “I am still upset with you. But whether I am or not, I’m worried about you.”

Luke finally turned his head to look at her and it wasn’t until then that she could see how exhausted he looked. She’d seen him running on only a few hours of sleep, whether it be they had a late night gig, or inspiration had struck at some ungodly hour and he’d stayed up all night writing, but none of that compared to this. His eyes didn’t have the spark that they usually did; the one that she thought was so cute. To Julie, his eyes were always his giveaway. She could always tell when he was scheming—which let’s be honest, being friends with  
Reggie meant that, that was more often than not—when he was nervous, or pumped before a gig.Now they were dull and lackluster—the furthest from _Luke_ that they could possibly be.

He opened his mouth to respond, but someone had leaned against the back of the bench, casting a shadow over him.

“Luke Patterson, how funny to see you here,” A man, dressed in a sparkly purple suit with piercing blue eyes smiled brightly at Luke. “I just wanted you to know, I’ve read over some of your songs in your songbook and I must say, you have more talent than I originally thought.”

Julie’s brow furrowed in confusion. Since when did Luke let anybody see— “Your songbook?” she spoke up suddenly, looking at the guitarist, whose jaw tightened firmly as he glared at the strange man.

Luke opened his mouth once again, but a purple crystal-detailed-sleeved arm stopped him. “Well naturally, he couldn’t refuse my offer, it was almost as if he’d _dropped_ the book into my lap.” The man smiled first at Julie and then again at Luke.

It wasn’t the first time they’d been approached by strangers since the band became more well known. Although they usually went relatively unbothered when they were at home and around LA, this man clearly knew Luke, Luke didn’t seem to like the man very much. Julie didn’t mean to be rude but she also didn’t like the sound of the conversation. “I’m sorry…who are you?”

“Oh, how rude of me,” the man said, turning toward her again. “Caleb Covington, head of HGC Records.” He stuck his hand out toward her, but instead of shaking it, she stood up from the bench quickly, feeling the pieces of the story fall together inside her head.

“You… you showed him your notebook?” Julie asked, looking at Luke now. She could feel the unwelcome sense of dread rise up in her chest. So Luke had inquired about the offer to go solo. He’d gone so far as to show him his songbook. He’d lied _again?_

Luke shook his head frantically. “No! That’s not what happened! He—“

“I told him our label would _kill_ for talent like his, and it was like everything fell into place,” Caleb spoke over him.

“Nothing happened, huh?” Julie shot a glare at the guitarist, even though she was still trying to sort through the story in her head.

“Julie, he’s lying! _Please—_ “

“No, no,” she cut him off, shaking her head. “I just… need some space right now.” She wrapped her arms around herself as she quickly walked away from the bench and back toward her car. She wasn’t even sure if she was mad anymore, but she was ridiculously confused. What was the real story here? Clearly this Caleb guy had made Luke an offer, but she was utterly confused beyond that. He said one thing, and Luke said another slightly different story. She _wanted_ to believe Luke, but he’d lied before and she believed him. How would she know the difference now?

Julie pulled out her phone to send a quick text to Alex telling him where Luke was before getting in her car to drive back home.

* * *

Luke glared at the man leaning on the backside of the bench. “Why are you doing this?!” he exploded. “I don’t even know who you are!”

“Now, now Luke isn’t it obvious?” Caleb swiftly moved to sit on the other end of the bench that Julie had previously occupied. “ _You_ are a part of a band that is signed by a label that competes with my own. I tried to persuade you to come to my label, but since you refused I have no choice but to break up the band that serves as the biggest competition to any of my clients.”

“So spreading rumors wasn’t enough for you?! You have to ruin my friendship with my best friend?”

“Rumors are so impersonal,” Caleb tutted, waving a hand dismissively. “Besides, even if I could start rumors influential enough to break up you and your…phantoms…what’s stopping you from starting over again later? You have to get to the _root_ of your rival to take them down properly.”

“So stealing my songbook was just some sort of back up plan?” Luke asked, narrowing his glare. If looks could kill, Caleb would most definitely be a goner by now.

“Actually, the songbook was just a happy accident. Though it does give me leverage now, doesn’t it?” The man grinned devilishly, his piercing blue eyes sparkling.

“Well I don’t know who you are or why you hate my friends and I so much, but leave us alone, alright? Leave _me_ alone. You can spread all the rumors you want and steal our songs but we won’t break up just because some lowlife like you wants to take us down for his own gain.” Luke stood up from the bench and turned to storm off when Caleb spoke up again.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

Luke’s hands clenched into fists, but knew that arguing any further wouldn’t help him. He needed to find Julie and work this out with her. He couldn’t let them go any longer without working this out. He made his way toward the boardwalk that lined the beach, only to basically be practically tackled by Alex and Reggie.

“Luke, man, are you okay?” Reggie asked.

“Yeah I’m fine. Do you guys know where Julie is?”

Alex and Reggie exchanged a glance, only adding to Luke’s previous frustration. “Maybe you should just head home and cool off for a bit,” Alex suggested.

“Boys, please,” he begged, attempting keep the annoyance out of his voice. “I know that my lie got me into this mess but now I need to make things right. But I can’t do that unless I know where she is.”

“Hey we totally get that, buddy,” Reggie said calmly. “We just don’t want you to do or say something that might make it worse.”

“I appreciate it, Reg, but I _need_ to find Julie. I need to explain to her how this weird label exec wants to take down Julie and the Phantoms and to do that he’s been spreading all these rumors and lies not just to make the band look bad but to ruin _our_ friendship too all because I didn’t want to go solo and sign with him—“

“Wait, whoa, Luke take a second. You realize how crazy this sounds right?” Alex asked, raising an eyebrow at his friend.

“Yes, but it’s true! That Caleb guy who gave us his card after we played is the one behind all of this! And I tried to avoid it by not telling Julie about it, and then lying to her about it—and when I say it out loud, Alex, yes I do realize how stupid it sounds—but it’s gotten so screwed up,” Luke explained. “I know it’s my fault. Just like the fight with my parents is probably my fault—“

“Listen dude, we get it, and we believe you,” Alex interrupted him again. “It’s a little crazy, but it does explain a lot. But you can’t go talk to Julie all wound up like this. Maybe try going home and calling her tonight?”

Luke’s shoulders slumped in defeat. He wasn’t going to be able to talk his friends into telling him where Julie had gone. Not that they could necessarily stop him, but he figured they were probably thinking a little more clearly than he was. All he could think about was how frustrated he was with Caleb trying to put a wedge between him and Julie. Even if it was Luke who aided in the mess without knowing, everything was fine until Caleb showed up.

“Alright, fine,” he sighed.

“And remember no matter what happens, we got your back,” Reggie said. “Even though this is one wild story.”

“Thanks Reg,” Luke mumbled, as he and Alex each put an arm around his shoulders, steering him toward Reggie’s van.

The boys gave him a ride back to Julie’s house to get his car and although he did intend on going home, Luke couldn’t help but glance up at Julie’s bedroom window that overlooked the studio. He could see her light on, but couldn’t see his best friend from where he was standing.

Nothing would ever sting the way the thought of Julie being mad at him did. It hurt because he cared so much about their friendship and about Julie herself that nothing could make him feel any lower. Even when it came to fighting with his parents, Luke fought with them pretty regularly—to varying degrees—but he was always able to handle it.

But then he got home that night, his mind too tired to put any effort in avoiding his parents. He walked into the living room to see them both sitting in their respective chairs.

“Luke,” Emily said, standing up to face him. “Where’ve you been?”

“With those boys that you say are such bad influences,” he shot back without thinking. “Oh and Julie.”

“You being gone for days at a time can’t happen anymore, Luke,” the older woman scolded him. “You may be on break from school now but what happens when you go back? How will this affect your grades?”

“Who cares?” He shrugged half-heartedly. “It’s not like I’m going to college anyway.”

Mitch, who had stood up and had stood silently beside Emily, spoke up finally, “Luke, don’t say that.”

“Why not? College is a _choice._ And I choose _not_ to go.” He knew the minute the words left his mouth that he was instigating an unnecessary fight. But he couldn’t bring himself to care. How could any argument be any worse than one they’ve already had? How could anything be worse than the day he was already having?

“Well you’d better choose to go,” Emily snapped.

Luke was so tired, any filter that he might’ve had on his words was nonexistent. “You can’t _make me_ go to college! Just like you can’t make me give up music! It’s _my_ life!” he snapped back, his voice rising.

“If you’re living in this house, you _will_ go to college!”

He flinched at his mother’s words but only slightly. “And if I don’t?” he challenged.

“Then you can leave!” she shouted back.

All 3 of them were stunned into silence. Was she actually…kicking him out? Did she really mean that? Luke felt a burning sensation in his stomach, as he felt his anger flaring up once more.

“Fine!” he shouted. “Fine, if you won’t be supportive and you won’t even try to listen to me then maybe I will leave.” Luke turned on his heel and stormed into his bedroom, picking up the duffel bag he’d dropped and blindly stuffed more clothes into it. He glanced over the room, noting that he left his guitar at Julie’s and brushed past his parents who still stood in the doorway to the living room. “Just don’t expect me to come back this time,” he said, slamming the door behind him. His anger carried him all the way to his car, fueling his drive for 15 minutes until he realized he was driving without a destination.

Luke pulled over to the side of the road, reality dawning on him slowly.

His parents had kicked him out. They’d kicked him out. And he’d actually _left._ But worse yet, they didn’t even try to stop him. They didn’t say a word against him. They hadn’t shouted, hadn’t tried to talk him out of it. Nothing.

And it hurt more than he thought it would.

* * *

Julie was sitting on her bed, leaning against the headboard with her journal open in her lap. She’d been trying to write some lyrics but her mind couldn’t seem to slow down from the day’s events. Band practice, fighting with Luke, their weird conversation with that Caleb guy at the beach.

She was completely confused by the whole situation and mostly hurt that Luke would lie to her at all. But any time they tried talking about it, somehow it always got worse.

Her phone vibrating next to her brought her out of her thoughts. When she saw the contact photo she hesitated slightly, but the late hour made her feel more inclined to pick up. “Luke?”

“Julie, I—“ His voice sounded off. “I, uh…I know we’re not exactly talking right now—” He sniffled. “—and that you asked for space. But um…” 

She sat up straighter, her brow furrowing in concern. Any prior feelings melted away at the sound of her best friend’s distraught voice. “Luke, what’s wrong?”

“My parents kicked me out.”

Julie’s heart sunk into her stomach at his words. She knew that Luke and his parents had a hard time getting along, particularly when it came to his future, but never would’ve imagined they would actually kick him out of their house. Especially before Christmas? It just seemed too cruel. “Where are you?”

“Um…I’m parked outside your house.” 

Keeping her phone to her ear, she ran out of her room as quickly and quietly as she could and slipped out the front door. As soon as she could see him in his car, she hung up the phone and tucked it into her pocket.

Luke got out of the car as she reached the street and watched as she ran up to him, throwing herself into his chest, wrapping her arms tightly around his torso.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled into her hair, slowly returning the hug. “For lying.”

“We’ll talk about it later,” she told him. “Right now just let me hug you.”

They stayed like that for a few more minutes, until Julie felt the chill of a December night in Los Angeles through her sweatshirt. “Let’s get inside, okay?” she said, pulling away from him.

“What about your dad?”

“I’ll explain it to him tomorrow…if that’s okay?”

Luke nodded, a flash of a grin appearing on his face.

Julie wordlessly linked her arm through his and led the way back into the house, up the stairs and into her bedroom. Once she shut the door behind them, Luke dropped his duffle bag to the side, looking around the room even though he’d been in there hundreds of times.

They both got ready for bed in silence, Luke heading to the bathroom to change and Julie quickly throwing on some pajamas in her closet and then sitting on the edge of her bed to wait for him to come back.

He stopped in her doorway, and she could tell he’d been crying—although she also knew for a fact that he’d done everything he could to erase any sign of that.

“I can sleep on the floor, or on the couch downstairs—“

“Don’t be stupid, Patterson,” she said, giving him a look. She patted the space next to her on the bed.

Luke slowly walked over and sat next to her, once again careful to leave space between them.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Talk about what?”

“Whatever it is that’s making you not act like yourself,” Julie told him, tilting her head to the side to look at him. “What’re you thinking about, Luke?”

“My parents kicked me out,” he repeated, his voice coming out strained. He stared at the floor in front of them as he spoke. “And when I was leaving…they didn’t even try to stop me.”

“Luke…”

“We argue all the time. They always have something to say. They’ve always argued against me, no matter what. But then we were arguing about college and then my mom,” he exhaled shakily, unaware of how much the encounter had actually affected him until he felt Julie’s hand on his back. She must have moved closer without him noticing. “She told me if I didn’t want to go to college, I could leave…and so I grabbed my clothes…and my dad didn’t even say anything…and I left.”

Julie was quiet for a moment before saying finally, “It’ll be okay, Luke. We’ll figure this out.”

Luke finally looked up at her. “We?”

“You really thought I’d let you go through this alone?”

He couldn’t help but grin at her echo of his own words.

“I told you. Even if I’m upset, or we’re fighting for whatever reason, that doesn’t mean I don’t care about you,” she told him, nudging him with her shoulder.

He shook his head, looking down again. “This is all my fault. Everything. With the band, my parents, us. All of it. I’m _so_ sorry, Julie.”

“It’s going to be okay, I promise. Tomorrow we need to talk. But right now, let’s try to get some sleep okay?”

Luke agreed and they both got under the covers, staying on opposite sides of the bed. Julie reached up and turned off the light before settling back into bed to stare at the ceiling. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Luke doing the same.

“Jules?” he whispered, turning his head to look at her.

She turned on her side to face him.

“I can’t sleep.”

Julie shook her head at him, sitting up as they both moved closer to each other, repositioning so that she rested with her head on his chest with his arm around her. She gently draped an arm across his chest. Would she normally overthink this? Maybe. But she pushed any kind of feelings for her best friend out of her mind for now. He needed a friend right now. They both did. “Better?”

He nodded and she could feel him let out a breath. “Much.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter kind of got away from me.... I don't know if that's good or bad, but I guess you guys can decide 😂

Over the Christmas break, Julie had been trying to sleep in more, but given the stress the last couple days had provoked, she’d been waking up a little too early for her liking. When she woke up that day, however, it seemed to be more because of the feeling of someone else next to her.

Her eyes fluttered open as she sleepily took in the sight of her bedroom. From her position lying on her side she could see her closet door still cracked open from last night, floor void of any dirty clothes, bedroom door still shut. She carefully looked over her shoulder to see Luke still sleeping soundly facing her. They weren’t touching, but he was dangerously close to her. His steady breathing ghosting the fly-away hairs on the back of her neck. It wasn’t as if they’d never been this close before. Julie had just never been so _aware_ of how close he was before.

Although Luke had just spent the night last weekend, it seemed like ages ago already. Besides that, she couldn’t help but worry about him when he came to band practice in the days after their confrontation in the studio. Each time she’d seen him he looked more and more run down and it killed her not to confront him about it. But seeing him so calm now made her feel a little better, if only slightly.

A light knock came from her door, causing her to bolt upright in bed, practically jumping off the mattress and making it to the door in record speed before her dad could open it—because yes, she knew her dad was the one behind it.

Julie quickly opened the door just enough so she could slip out of the room before shutting the door behind her, not giving her father any chance to glance inside.

“ _Mija_? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah!” she said, grinning nervously at him. “Everything’s fine, _papi_. Why do you ask?”

“It’s 11 o’clock. You’re usually up by now, at least having breakfast,” Ray noted, looking almost worriedly at his daughter.

The hint of worry made her feel only slightly guilty—it’s not like she was lying to him, right? She just hadn’t told him that her best guy friend slept over last night without permission…yet. She could tell him. If she explained the situation, he’d understand. Julie was confident in she and her father’s relationship. He trusted her. Her brain just wasn’t awake enough to come up with the proper words to explain. “It’s because… Luke called me last night.”

Her father didn’t seem to understand. “Don’t you two talk all the time?”

She hadn’t told him about the fight that they’d had, nor had she mentioned the fan frenzy online with the band. It wasn’t that he wouldn’t understand—she could talk to her dad about anything—but she didn’t really want to talk to anyone after ranting to Flynn about it, so she hadn’t yet. “Well yeah, but last night he called and he was really upset because he got into a fight with his parents and…they kicked him out.”

Ray’s eyes widened and Julie could tell he was as shocked as she was when Luke told her. “Emily and Mitch?” he mumbled in disbelief. The older man rubbed his forehead, almost as if he was distressed _for_ her best friend’s parents. “Where is Luke? Is he okay?”

“That’s the thing,” Julie went on, wringing her fingers together. “I was worried about Luke and he sounded so upset that I didn’t want him driving around like that so I—well, I…kind of had him stay the night here.” She looked up at her father shyly, trying to gauge his reaction.

“In the garage?”

She shook her head. “No… in my room with me. But I promise nothing happened, I just didn’t want him to be alone and I knew if he slept on the couch or in the studio he wouldn’t sleep, and I know he hasn’t been so I—!”

“It’s all right, _mija,_ ” Ray interrupted her, putting his hands on her shoulders gently. “I can’t say I appreciate not being asked about this beforehand but… I suppose you can’t plan for these kinds of things.”

“It just happened so fast,” Julie explained. “And it was late when he called and I didn’t to wake you. I promise if the situation would’ve allowed, I would’ve come to you first I just—“

“Julie. It’s okay. I trust you. And I trust Luke. But if he’s going to be staying here for the time being, we need to figure out other sleeping arrangements,” he said, removing his hands from her shoulders with a stern look. 

She nodded, smiling weakly up at her father.

“Is he okay?” He glanced at her closed bedroom door.

“I think he’s just in shock right now,” she said carefully. It wasn’t Julie’s place to speak for him, as much as she knew Luke trusted her. But considering how understanding her father had just been, she figured she could at least let him know how Luke was doing. Plus, she’d be lying if she said his genuine concern for her best friend’s well being didn’t make her heart swell with pride. “But I think he’ll be okay.”

“When he wakes up and you two are ready, I’d like to talk with you both. It doesn’t need to be right away, but soon.”

“Of course.” Julie stepped forward and hugged her father tightly. “Thank you, _papi._ ”

His arms wrapped around her, rubbing her back gently. “I’ll see you downstairs, _mija._ ” He pulled away from her as she turned to go back into her bedroom.

Julie opened the door just in time to see her phone vibrating noisily on her nightstand, a photo of her and Flynn lighting up the screen. Geeze, did _everyone_ want her attention today? She quickly picked up, lowering her voice so as not to wake Luke. “What’s up, Flynn?”

“ _Please_ Jules. Tell me that you and Luke did not get into an argument in public that ended with you storming away from him,” Flynn pleaded with her.

Julie internally groaned. “What, are we suddenly being stalked or something? How do you know about that?” she whispered loudly.

“It’s all over Twitter! I don’t know if I should be more offended that I had to find out about it online instead of from you or the fact that you got into a fight with Luke _in public_ after this whole rumor disaster.”

“Well you don’t have to worry about it, Luke and I are working things out,” she said quietly. “And it wasn’t a fight we were just…talking.”

“Why are you whispering?” Flynn asked loudly.

Julie flinched at the volume of Flynn’s voice. “Luke is still sleeping.”

She could practically see the shocked look on her best friend’s face through the phone. “I’m sorry, you’re with Luke while he’s sleeping? Julie—“

“I don’t have time to explain it right now,” Julie interrupted, raising her voice slightly. “I need to talk to Luke when he wakes up, and then I think we need to have an emergency band meeting. I’ll text you so you can be there, okay? We’ll do some damage control.”

“That’s all I ask. And if you think _we’re_ not going to have a talk about you and Luke in the same room _while he’s sleeping_ —“

“Bye Flynn, love you!” Julie hung up quickly before her best friend could get in another word. She didn’t really think Flynn would let that go so easily, but she also didn’t want to talk about it with the boy in question sleeping right next to her. There was already a lot of conversations she needed to have today, and she was not going to add another one…not yet.

She sat back on her bed, leaning against the headboard with her phone in her lap. She didn’t even want to try to look at any social media right now. It would only give her a headache and she wanted to put that off for as long as possible. Julie fiddled with her phone in her hands for a while, and just as soon as she lifted it up to unlock it, Luke stirred in his sleep.

“Jules…” Luke mumbled sleepily, his brow furrowing.“Put the phone down.”

“You wake up and the first thing you do is boss me around?” she snapped incredulously. “How did you even know I was on my phone?”

He grinned, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “You forget that I have a sixth sense when it comes to you, Molina.” He slowly sat up next to her. “Plus, I can literally feel the anxiety coming from you. Checking your phone is exactly what _not_ to do.”

“How are you feeling?” she asked, her tone softening as she looked at him. 

“My brain doesn’t feel like a broken record anymore,” he offered, shrugging.

“Right, the benefits of actually getting a good night’s sleep,” she teased, rolling her eyes.

“Thanks for that by the way.” Luke’s gaze finally met her own. “Thanks for being here.”

“You are the only person I’d risk my dad’s wrath for.”

Luke winced, already anticipating the worst. “He found us, didn’t he?”

“Not exactly. But I did tell him you were here and although he doesn’t love the idea that we shared a bed, I explained what happened and he was pretty understanding. You can stay here for as long as you need.” Julie hesitantly put a comforting hand over his own. “But you and I need to talk.”

He nodded and she pretended not to notice him flinch ever so slightly as she withdrew her hand.

“Why would you keep something from me? And then lie about it?”

“Jules, I honestly didn’t think anything would come of it, so I didn’t think it was worth mentioning. Caleb came up to me after the boys and I played, basically cornering me and trying to convince me how much better off I’d be going solo, but I told him no. Then he dropped his card with me and the boys but even then I told him and them that we wouldn’t ever sign anywhere without you.”

“You really mean that?” she asked quietly.

“There isn’t a deal that any label could make that would convince me that any music is worth making without you, Julie.”

Julie hadn’t necessarily doubted Luke or the boys’ intentions in that regard, but the confidence in his words made a feeling of contentment spread through her chest. She smiled gratefully at him.

“And then when we were walking out, this skateboarder literally ran me over and I must’ve dropped my songbook and he picked it up. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I guess he works for Caleb,” Luke went on. “I didn’t notice it was missing until the other night when I called Reggie and we all ended up here…so yes, part of what Caleb said was true, but he’s twisting it to make it look like I want to leave the band, but I _promise_ you that I don’t. I know this time of the year is hard for you so I was _trying_ to avoid making it worse but it got way out of my control and I’m so, _so_ sorry.”

She took a moment to take in his words and consider her own. He sounded sincere, and Julie knew that he was. But she could feel her feelings for him simmering under the surface and she didn’t know if this was the time to even vaguely mention them. It wasn’t his fault that her unrequited feelings for him made his seemingly small lie hurt that much more.

“Its just that I trusted you, Luke. I trusted you almost as much as I trust Flynn, and if I’m being totally honest with you, that scares me because when my mom died—“ Her words caught in her throat, and she could feel his comforting gaze on her. “Flynn was the only one I trusted more than anything. But then I met you and trusting you came easy, but then something as small as this and you lied to me even after I gave you the chance to tell me the truth and it _hurt_ , Luke.”

“I know,” he said quietly, his eyes shining with regret.

“But how could you know?” She inched away from him. She could feel the words coming up her throat, almost like vomit and she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to stop it. Julie wasn’t sure exactly what was making all of this come out, but she was on a roll and couldn’t exactly stop herself. “I care about you a lot, Luke. And when you lied and without batting an eye, how do I know I can trust you again?” She got up from the bed, only stopping at the sound of his voice.

“Because _I_ care about you.” His words came out without any hesitation and it surprised her. She turned back around to face him and based on the look on his face, she figured it kind of surprised him too.

He climbed off the bed and stepped toward her. “I mean… I’ll do whatever it takes to earn your trust back, because I-I care about you, Jules. It’s the reason I lied in the first place—and yes, Alex has made me aware of how stupid that sounds—its the reason I stayed here all weekend with you without a second thought and the reason I would _never_ even dream of ever lying to you again because you mean the world to me, Julie Molina. Even when you tell me I looked like a kicked puppy.”

The last part elicited a giggle from her, slightly distracting her from how close they were to each other at that moment—and the fact that he just said she means the world to him. “I believe you.”

“Can I ask you something?” he asked hesitantly, glancing down at his feet.

Julie nodded, looking up at him expectantly.

“Why does it… why does it scare you to trust me so much?” His eyes met her own as he reached up to scratch the back of his neck. The telltale sign that he was nervous.

“Because I…I’ve never felt like that with anyone else. I’ve never _cared_ for anyone like I do for you.” She had _not_ planned on the conversation going this way, but it seemed to have taken a turn on its own. But it was out there, she had laid out her feelings for him to know and if he didn’t feel the same…then maybe their emergency band meeting would be a bit more disastrous than she originally thought. “And it’s okay if you don’t—I mean, I know we’re best friends and I really don’t want to ruin that, but you asked so I—“

“Jules,” he interrupted, a smile spreading across his face. “What did you think I meant when I said you mean the world to me?”

“I, uh…I guess I just figured you meant as a best friend, you know?” she said sheepishly, a light blush blooming across her face.

“I thought I was supposed to be the clueless one,” Luke laughed.

“I’m pretty sure you were just as clueless as I was until a few minutes ago,” she pointed out, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Maybe,” he shrugged, stepping even closer to her as he took her hands in his own. “But…what does this mean?”

The words came out before Julie could stop them; she was on a roll today. “I’m supposed summarize everything I feel for you right now?”

She’d seen plenty of Luke smiles in their time being friends but the one that slowly grew on his face right then was almost unfamiliar. His smile had always been bright to her, but this one shone in a way she hadn’t seen before. It made his eyes light up in such a way that it reminded her of every time since that fateful band practice that she admired some small thing he did or how he looked and then had immediately pushed it down in fear of ruining their friendship. It was as if everything came rushing back all at once.

“Jules,” Luke said. “Is it okay if I kiss you?”

“You have to ask?”

He grinned. “Consent is important, ya know?” Luke said quietly as he closed the distance between them, his lips meeting her’s in a kiss that was all too brief before they heard:

“Oh, _gross!_ ”

They both jumped back quickly, and Julie was confused at how disappointed she felt at the loss of contact. Willing her brain to focus, she turned toward the door—which she hadn’t even heard open—to face her younger brother. “Carlos!” she scolded. “What are you doing here?”

“Dad sent me up to see if you guys were coming downstairs any time today,” the younger Molina said with a grimace. “But wait till I tell him you had other plans.”

“Carlos, wait! Can you just tell Dad we’ll be down in a few and let me tell him the rest?”

“Fine,” Carlos agreed, before looking directly at Luke. “Just because I liked you as her best friend doesn’t mean I’ll like you as her boyfriend. Don’t hurt my sister.” There was a slight teasing tone to his voice, and Julie knew that Carlos did like Luke regardless of what he said.

“Noted,” Luke said, nodding at the boy before winking at Julie.

The pair watched as Carlos turned and made his way back downstairs.

“I guess we have some explaining to do,” Julie sighed, glancing over at him.

“I think we can handle it.” Luke grinned once more, taking her hand before leading the way downstairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the scene of Julie and the boys in the studio at the end of episode 9 lives rent free in my head. there I said it.


	7. Chapter 7

When Julie and Luke got downstairs, Ray sat them down to talk in the living room. Julie noticed her father eyeing their intertwined hands, but he didn’t say anything about it as they talked. He reiterated that Luke was welcome to stay as long as he liked, but that he’d prefer he’d sleep in the guest room or the studio’s pullout couch—whichever he was more comfortable and he admitted that he would have to call Luke’s parents to let them know he was there.

Julie could see her boyfriend—even thinking of him like that gave her butterflies—tense at her father’s words, but at the reassuring squeeze she gave his hand, he nodded silently.

It was then that Julie felt it was finally time to update her father on the band’s current predicament, as well as letting him know that the rest of the band and Flynn would be coming over soon for a meeting and possibly a rehearsal, to which he simply nodded and offered his support in any way they needed.

Julie always knew how lucky she was to have a father who was so understanding and accepting of her _and_ her friends. He _tried_. He only ever wanted to see her happy, especially since her mom had passed away, and Julie knew he’d do anything for her and Carlos, but that wasn’t without boundaries. And it wasn’t until she watched her dad talk to Luke about the situation with his own parents that she realized just how good she had it. She hated that this was the comparison that made the thought come up, but it was true. Where she and her parents saw music as an opportunity for growth and self expression, Luke’s parents saw it as a hobby and a dead end. And knowing how much Luke loved and thrived when it came to music, it broke her heart.

After a quick brunch, Julie excused them to go out to the studio to wait for Reggie, Alex and Flynn to come for their band meeting. They originally had been sitting on the couch together, but Julie could tell Luke was getting restless by the way he couldn’t keep his knee from bouncing.

She reached over, gently resting her hand on his knee, it’s bouncing stopped immediately. “You okay?”

“I just wish I had my songbook,” he said exasperatedly. “I’ve had some lyrics in my head for days and nowhere to put ‘em.”

“A regular notebook won’t work for now?” she teased, raising an eyebrow at him.

“It’s not the same and you know it,” he said, giving her a look. Julie did know how important his songbook was to him—they all did—Luke had been dutifully keeping all of his songs together in one notebook since she’d met him, well, one notebook at a time anyway.

Julie sighed dramatically, getting up from the couch and walking over to ladder that led up into the loft. “I was going to wait until Christmas for this, but clearly you can’t wait until then,” she joked, as she climbed up just enough so she could survey the small set up the Molina’s still had up there. Julie plucked a gift wrapped box out from behind the various boxes of her mom’s things and climbed back down the ladder, and held it out to him. “Merry early Christmas!”

He took the box from her, still looking up at her. “Jules, how did you…?”

“I was hoping that you would be around for Christmas…and I figured that if we were hanging out, it’d be in here so…here it is,” she said, glancing around the studio. “It’s nothing big, but its something.”

A small grin grew on his face as he unwrapped the gift, pulling out a faux-leather bound journal.

“I know a lot of your songbooks have fallen apart and maybe you could use it if we end up going on tour next summer?” Julie sat down next to him, watching his face carefully.

“The fact that you thought so much about this is adorable,” he said, his grin brightening. It faded as he looked up at her. “I don’t have your gift though. It’s back at my parent’s house. I didn’t think—“

“Don’t worry about it,” she assured him. “You just get whatever lyrics are in your head down on paper and give us our next hit, okay?”

Luke wrapped an arm around her shoulders, effortlessly pressing a kiss to her temple and it almost surprised her how easily they transitioned into a relationship. Sure, they had always been close before, and Luke is physically affectionate with everyone, but the way he kissed her without a second thought made her actually really happy.

“Is that all you have me for?” he teased, pulling back enough so that he could see her face, but still keeping his arm around her.

“Of course not,” Julie said, rolling her eyes at him. “You’re a great pillow too.” She stood up from the couch, grinning at him.

He scoffed, opening his mouth to say something when the barn doors opened and Reggie and Alex walked in.

“Are we interrupting something?” Reggie asked, quickly stopping in his tracks causing Alex to run into him.

Luke glanced up at Julie before standing up beside her, placing the journal on the couch. “Nah Reg, everything’s fine.”

“Yeah, we’re not fighting or anything,” Julie clarified.

“Good, because we’ve got damage control to do,” Flynn spoke up as she walked in behind Alex. “But first, I need updates. What the heck has been going on with you two?”

Luke and Julie glanced at each other as their friends all took seats around the coffee table across from them, while they sat back on the couch together. Together with Reggie and Alex, they explained the boys’ trip, Luke’s encounter with Caleb, and everything that happened last night as well.

Julie was surprised when Luke was so open about the situation with his parents, but as she glanced at their friends’ faces, she realized that these were the people they were both closest to. Flynn and Luke usually only communicated through sarcastic banter, but she knew they both would do anything for the other—even if neither would come out and admit it.

It was Alex who spoke up when they’d finally finished explaining, a sorrowful look on his face. “Willie finally responded to my message… he’s really sorry about stealing Luke’s songbook, but he says he can’t steal it back without Caleb catching him.”

“What makes this Caleb guy so powerful?” Flynn asked, glancing back and forth between the drummer and the guitarist.

“He owns HGC Records,” Luke explained, as if it were obvious.

“Yeah I got that,” Flynn said. “But what gives him the right to mess with my bestie and her band? Rumors I can handle but he made this personal.”

“Okay but what can we do about it?” Julie questioned, looking at her best friend.

Flynn sat quietly in thought for a few minutes before looking over at Alex. “Why is Willie so afraid of Caleb catching him?”

“He works for Caleb and he needs that job. If Caleb caught him stealing Luke’s notebook back, he’d fire him on the spot,” Alex said, shoving his hands in his pockets nervously. “It sounds like this Caleb guy is bad news.”

“Would he be willing to get a new job?”

The boys all shared a confused look while Julie raised her eyebrow at the girl. “What do you mean?”

Flynn crossed her arms over her chest. “What if Willie came to work for Julie and the Phantoms instead?”

Luke and Reggie immediately turned to Alex, who suddenly looked like he would prefer to be anywhere the studio at that moment. The drummer cleared his throat, looking at Flynn. “Uh…what do you mean exactly?”

“He could be your guys’ roadie or something and I’m sure Destiny Management can use an extra intern or something when you guys aren’t performing as often.”

“Alex, would you be okay with that?” Luke asked, looking back at him.

“Yeah—yeah! Why wouldn’t I be?” Alex glanced around the room, but wouldn’t meet his bandmates’ curious eyes.

“Well he’s a friend of yours, right?” Reggie asked lightly.

Alex nodded wordlessly, and although Julie didn’t know the exact extent of Willie and Alex’s relationship—the mention of the boy possibly working with their band had immediately made Alex shy, that much was clear.

“Alex,” she spoke up, leaning toward him. “If he’s your friend, then it’s up to you if you’re comfortable with him working for the band. If you’re not comfortable, we’ll drop it,” she told him firmly.

The boy seemed to visibly relax at her words, the tension releasing in his shoulders.

Luke put a comforting hand on his shoulder, squeezing it slightly, as if to silently let the drummer know he supported him.

Reggie grinned at him as well, and Julie could tell it was genuine—when did Reggie ever do anything that wasn’t?

“Can I just talk to him about it? And then I’ll text you?” Alex asked, looking up at Flynn.

“Of course,” Flynn agreed, before turning her attention to Julie and Luke, lifting an eyebrow. “Now would you two like to explain why you’ve been sitting so cozy this whole time?”

Julie’s eyes widened at her best friend’s bluntness, despite being well aware of how Flynn was never afraid to say what was on her mind. She knew Flynn was bound to bring up her and Luke at some point, but she didn’t think it would be in front of the boys. She glanced over at her other bandmates to see Reggie and Alex smirking knowingly.

“We…had to talk through some things this morning,” Julie said tentatively, not daring to look at Luke. She knew if she did, she’d blush and then it’d be obvious. Does he even want to tell their friends?

“Oh I bet you did a lot of talking,” Reggie said suggestively, a smirk still stretched across his face.

“Reginald,” Alex said exasperatedly, the smirk fading from his face. His previous shyness gone in favor of scolding Reggie. “Don’t be gross.”

“Yeah, we _did,_ ” Luke cut in, taking Julie’s hand.

“So did you finally realize you both have feelings for each other and everyone could see it but you?” Flynn asked, raising an eyebrow at their joined hands.

Alex snorted with a poorly concealed laugh, and Reggie outright giggled.

“Thanks Flynn,” Julie said, sarcasm enveloping her voice. “For announcing that to everyone.”

“Jules, please trust me when I say I absolutely love you and I mean this in the most gentle way possible, but I didn’t announce anything to anybody. The only ones who didn’t know you had feelings for each other was yourselves.”

Julie felt the blush rise in her cheeks at her best friend’s statement, turning to look at Luke. “Guess we’re more clueless than we thought, huh?”

“Don’t get me started,” Alex said, leaning back in his chair dramatically. “Have you guys ever watched a video of one of our performances? You might as well be making out on stage when you guys share a mic.”

“Yeah! You guys _ooze_ chemistry,” Reggie added.

The other four teenagers cringed, as Alex shook his head at the bassist. “Please never say _ooze_ again, but for once I don’t disagree.”

“What’s wrong with the word ooze?” The bassist wondered aloud, glancing around at them.

Alex grimaced, turning toward him. “Do you really want me to answer that? Or…?”

“I just think it’s a very descriptive word. Just like moist or—“

“Okay!” Alex shouted over him, clearly annoyed. “Okay, I get it, just _please_ stop using those words! At least around me!”

Julie giggled at the boys’ antics, shaking her head fondly at them as Flynn stepped in to try to break up their argument, but only ended up adding to the noise level of the studio. Julie was admittedly relieved the topic of conversation was no longer focused on her and Luke. She glanced at the boy in question, resting her head on his shoulder.

Luke squeeze her hand in response, a small grin on his face she knew was for her. “This is gonna be great,” he sighed contentedly.

“What do you mean?”

“This,” he said, picking up their joined hands. “Everyone gets to know that I’m _Julie Molina’s_ boyfriend.”

“That was…really cheesy, Patterson,” Julie said, shaking her head at him. “But also kind of cute.”

He grinned at her compliment. “But you think I’m cute.”

“Hey lovebirds, sorry to interrupt but uh… do you think maybe we could rehearse?” Alex cut in. “We do have a show in two days.”

Luke and Julie stood up and took their places at their respective instruments, as Alex counted them in to a warm up of Finally Free.

Flynn stayed through their rehearsal to take pictures of the band performing, most likely to post something on social media to deflect all of the rumors that had been going around lately, Julie guessed.

They went over a few more songs and when they were done, Luke followed the guys down the driveway while Julie followed Flynn to her mom’s waiting car.

“So…all jokes aside, I _am_ happy that you and Luke finally realized your feelings for each other,” Flynn told her. “I told you he felt the same way.”

“Yeah, but it was nice to just hear _him_ say it, you know?”

“What made him finally say it?”

“We were talking about everything that happened, and I told him that I really cared for him, and he said he’d do anything to earn my trust back because I meant the world to him.”

A wide smile grew across the girl’s face. “He really said that?”

Julie raised an eyebrow at her best friend. “Why the tone of surprise?”

“I mean I know he writes killer lyrics, but Luke Patterson is also _very_ good at putting his foot in his mouth.”

“Well he did say it, and it was really sweet,” Julie said, rolling her eyes. She glanced over her shoulder at Luke who had just said goodbye to the boys and was heading back into the studio.

“And if he ever stops being sweet, he’ll have me to deal with,” Flynn said, watching Luke’s retreating figure.

“I’ll let him know,” Julie joked. “But thank you for handling all the stuff with the band this week. I know we didn’t make it easy on you.”

“I’ll admit it was a little rough, but you know I’d do anything for you, Jules. Plus when everyone finds out you and Luke are dating, no one will even remember any of this.”

A car horn brought the girls out of their conversation, as they both hugged goodbye and Julie walked back into the studio. She walked in to see Luke back on the couch, already hunched over his new journal scribbling furiously. “What are you working on?” She walked over to him, leaning toward him to see what he was writing, when Luke gently pulled the notebook toward his chest.

“Sorry. It’s just…really personal,” he said, bringing the notebook back to his lap. “I’d rather show you when I’m done.”

“That’s okay,” she said, sending him a reassuring smile. Although his initial reaction kind of hurt, she trusted that Luke would show her when he was ready. It wasn’t the first time Luke kept his lyrics under wraps, even from her, and it wouldn’t be the last time either, she knew. But she did happen to catch his barely legible scrawl at the top of the page:

_Unsaid Emily_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter :) my original plan was to have this story finished before I moved back to school, but unfortunately that didn't work out so.... updates will be few and far in between for a little while. there are only a few more chapters left anyway and then I'm working on something else to put out with Juke but that won't be for a while... but if you are still reading, leaving kudos or commenting, you are SO greatly appreciated. thank you <3


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is very reminiscent of episode 8... but not in the makes-you-want-to-bawl-your-eyes-out kind of way.

Two days passed quickly, and finally it was the day of their holiday show and two days before Christmas. With the recent turn of events, everyone but _especially_ Flynn thought it’d be adorable if they did _All I Want for Christmas Is You._

“You make heart eyes at each other on stage anyway, might as well play it up,” Alex quipped when Julie and Luke seemed hesitant. It wasn’t exactly “their sound”—as Luke was quick to point out—but he couldn’t help but grin at her when he said, “You would _slay_ any Mariah Carey song though.”

Julie had blushed at the compliment and the fact that everyone else agreed. Sometimes she felt like her bandmates and her best friend had more faith in her capabilities than she did, but she agreed when they settled on a more up-beat version of _Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree_ as their second cover. It wasn’t hard to make the arrangement and after a couple hours of rehearsing each day, they were able to nail it.

When Julie woke up the morning of their gig, she felt a little nervous. She’d been contemplating how to help Luke her head for the past few days. She’d seen him writing Unsaid Emily, and although she didn’t know for sure, she had a strong feeling it was about his mom. Julie wished she could just get his parents to see how important music was to him, but she wasn’t sure how to go about it. She’d woken up in the middle of the night because of her unease and ended up peeking into the guest room to see if Luke was awake or not.

She carefully opened the door to see Luke’s sleeping figure curled up around a pillow. She carefully slipped into the room, shutting the door behind her. She tiptoed over to the bed, gently shaking his shoulder. “Luke,” she whispered. “Luke, wake up.”

He groaned quietly, sitting up slowly. “Jules? What’s wrong?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” she mumbled.

“Are you nervous about our show today?”

Julie couldn’t see his face in the darkness of the house, Luke must’ve drawn all the shades when he went to bed. She could see the silhouette of his bed head sticking up at weird angles. She could only imagine his sleepy features and she couldn’t help but think he was adorable—even if it was technically only her imagination. “Yeah… I guess so.” She couldn’t tell him what she was actually thinking about, because she _knows_ Luke wouldn’t want her to worry.

Luke sat up straighter in the bed, running a hand through his hair. “Is something else on your mind?”

She shook her head. “Just can’t sleep, I guess.”

He was quiet for a minute, and Julie knew he knew her better than that, but he must’ve decided to let it go. “Do you wanna lay down for a little while?”

Julie nodded as Luke moved over to allow her to get under the blankets. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her so that her back was flush against his chest.

“Is this okay?” he asked, resting his chin on her shoulder.

“Geeze Patterson, just when I thought you couldn’t get any more physically affectionate, you outdo yourself,” she teased quietly.

“I can’t help it.” Julie could hear the smile in his voice. “Plus, what am I supposed to do when my girlfriend wakes me up in the middle of the night because she can’t sleep?”

“Tell her to go back to bed?”

Luke tugged her impossibly closer, turning to whisper directly in her ear. “Not a chance, Molina.”

Her nerves seemed to simmer, but her heart did a backflip in her chest at the confidence behind his words.

“Just try and relax, okay? The show will be fine, and you’ll kill it as usual.”

Julie exhaled shakily, and she wasn’t sure if it was her worry or the fact that Luke was so close to her. “Why do you always seem more sure than I am?”

“Because from the moment I first heard you sing, I knew how talented you are. And I know you didn’t necessarily feel that way for a while. So I’ll always be here to remind you in case you ever forget, because you are _extremely_ talented.”

The butterflies in her stomach multiplied. Is this what it felt like to lo— _like_ someone so much? If her heart had it’s way, it would probably beat out of her chest. Did he know the effect his words had on her? Apparently she paused too long because his voice was in her ear again.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, sorry,” she breathed out quietly, turning so that she could look him in the eye. “Thanks for always believing in me, Luke.”

The corner of his mouth turned up slightly, his lopsided grin gracing his face that she could recognize even in the dark. “Of course, Jules.” He pressed a kiss to her temple and cuddled back into her, humming a vaguely familiar melody in her ear.

She allowed her eyes to drift closed, focusing on the familiar sound of Luke’s hum vibrating through his chest into her back. Her brain automatically filled in the melody with lyrics as she slowly fell back asleep:

_Here in front of me_

_Shining so much brighter_

_Than I have ever seen_

_Life can be so mean_

_But when he goes, I know he doesn't leave_

* * *

When Julie woke up again, it was finally light outside, but Luke was still asleep next to her, so she took that as an opportunity to carefully slip out of bed and back to her own room. She almost felt as though she were lying to Luke, but she needed to talk to Emily and Mitch about what had happened. It had only been a few days since Luke had left home, but she knew how much it hurt him. Even though he mostly seemed unfazed, she could tell there were times when he zoned out, lost in thought, but then claimed it was nothing. She knew him just as well as he knew her.

By the time Julie got dressed and ready it was late morning already, so she told her dad she’d be back in a little while and drove over to the Patterson’s house. She’d been there before a handful of times, whether it be to help Luke study, to bring him ice cream when he got his tonsils removed last year, and even a few times when Emily asked her to stay for dinner. She’d actually gotten to know his parents rather well, and while they’d always been kind to her, she’d also been around long enough to see the way the arguments affected Luke.

Luke was not a negative person. He was constantly bursting with energy, ready to hype up everyone around him. To her, he was sunshine in human form—his smile so bright and contagious you couldn’t help but be happy around him. But whenever he’d gotten into it with his parents, his hazel green eyes would turn dull, his face sullen and brow furrowed. Julie had talked him down from his angry bouts before, but it’d never been like this before.

Julie walked up to the door, taking a deep breath before she knocked.

A few moments passed before the door opened to reveal Emily Patterson. A look of slight confusion passed over her face, before a small smile turned up her lips. “Oh Julie,” she said. “How nice to see you! Luke isn’t…Luke’s not home right now.”

How does she begin to explain without sounding rude? “I-I know. I came to talk to you and Mr. Patterson.”

“Oh. Well, come in then, please.” Emily opened the door wider, stepping aside to allow Julie into their one story home.

Julie stepped into the familiar foyer as Emily closed the door and led the way into the living room where Mitch was sitting in his arm chair.

“I don’t suppose you’ve heard from Luke, have you?” The older woman asked, turning to face Julie. “Is he okay?”

“He’s fine,” Julie said, offering a weak smile. She was torn between being cordial and protective. If she was so concerned, why had she told Luke to leave?

Mitch stood up next to his wife, both of them now giving Julie their full attention. “What can we do for you, Julie?” he asked.

“I just wanted to talk to you about considering coming to the band’s show tonight,” she began. “I know you don’t approve of Luke’s decision to be in the band and that he’s only seventeen, but doesn’t it count for anything that he’s found something that makes him happy?”

“Of course it does,” Emily said, nodding. “Despite what he may tell you, we do love Luke.”

“I know that. But he’s pursuing the one thing he was born to do and he gets paid to do it, even though he’d absolutely do it for free,” Julie said gently. “Not many people find that, but Luke did.”

“We know how special music is to Luke,” Mitch said. “We were the ones who gave him his first guitar and we saw the way he took to it.”

“Are you sure? Have you seen how excited he gets when he’s writing a song? Do you know how comfortable he feels in our garage and how talented of a writer he is?”

Both Emily and Mitch were silent for a beat.

“I know Luke isn’t perfect either. Sometimes he gets so angry that he completely shuts down and he doesn’t want to speak to anybody, and he’s so stubborn in good ways and bad, and sometimes he has a one track mind that it’s almost impossible to get him to see anything else, but it’s just because he’s passionate about what he does. That’s just who he is.” Julie paused, unsure of where the courage to say all of this came from. Was it her place to tell them this? Was it even right to be here right now? It’s almost as if she was lying to Luke. “Your son is insanely talented. And it would mean the world to him if you both came to our show to support him.”

Emily and Mitch exchanged a look, before Emily spoke up finally. “We understand what you’re saying, Julie. But you can’t honestly believe that this lifestyle will sustain him for the rest of his life. This rockstar fantasy can’t go on forever.”

Julie took a deep breath, steeling her frustration for one final try. How could she make them understand?! “Just _please_ consider coming to our show tonight. That’s all I’m asking. But I can see that no matter what I say it’s not going to change your minds so I think I should just go.” Without another word, she turns on her heel and lets herself out of the house. When she returns to her car, she pulls out her phone, noticing a few texts from Flynn and missed calls from Luke. A thread of texts come in as she’s looking through her notifications:

**_Julie Molina if you don’t give_ **

**_me some sort of indication_ **

**_that you are okay_ **

**_I’m telling your dad about_ **

**_the night you stayed out_ **

**_after curfew with me and_ **

**_the boys_ **

**_and we had to sleep_ **

**_in the garage, NOT at_ **

**_Flynn’s like you told him._ **

**Sorry!! I just had to**

**get** **out to clear** **my**

**head.** **I** **promise** **I’m**

**coming** **home now**

She got back to her house and slipped into the garage to find Flynn, Reggie, Alex and Luke scattered in various spots around the studio—Luke taking on Alex’s usual stance by pacing in front of the grand piano. As she pulled the door shut behind her she glanced around at her best friends. “Guys? What are you all doing here?”

They all looked up at her, eyes widening at her sudden appearance, various shouts of, “Julie!” coming from around the studio. Luke is the first to break through his surprise, as he quickly ran up and wrapped his arms around her.

“Where’ve you been?” he mumbled into her hair, and it suddenly dawned on her how worried they—he—must’ve been.

Julie wrapped her arms around him for a moment, before pulling away, her hands on his shoulders as she glanced from him to each of their friends. “I just slipped out for an hour or so. It’s no big deal.”

“It just kind freaked me out when you said you couldn’t sleep last night and then I woke up and you were gone,” Luke explained, loosening his grip on her.

“None of you thought to ask my dad where I was?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “I told him I’d be back.”

“I told you my girl wouldn’t just disappear like that,” Flynn spoke up finally. “Pretty Boy here was absolutely losing his mind.”

Flynn’s remark only made Luke look slightly embarrassed, but the concern in his eyes didn’t falter. “Hey, we were all pretty worried, okay,” he justified himself, scratching the back of his head nervously.

Her best friend, as usual, was unphased, and in this instance, Julie was thankful. (She knew she’d have some explaining to do later, though.) “So are we gonna do one last rehearsal or what?”

Reggie and Alex wordlessly got to their places and got situated with their instruments, while Luke chanced one last worried glance at Julie. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

She gave him a small, reassuring smile. “Yes Luke, I’m fine. I promise.”

The rehearsal went smoothly, although Julie could feel Luke’s eyes on her no matter what she did. She hadn’t realized how worried he would’ve been had she slipped out without telling him. But she also couldn’t help but feel even more nervous at the thought of Emily and Mitch possibly showing up to their gig. Would Luke be surprised? Happy? Angry? Would they even show up? Should she tell him where she went if they didn’t?

After they’d rehearsed until they were all satisfied with their performances, the rest of the day went by in a bit of a blur. The boys and Flynn stayed and they all hung out in the studio, Flynn finally posting to the band’s Instagram account a photo of all four of them on the couch in the studio: Alex on one end of the couch, his arm carelessly thrown across the back mid-laugh, leaning toward Reggie who was sitting next to him smiling giddily because the boys had just been telling a stupid joke. On the other end of the couch, Luke had pulled Julie onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist, pressing his cheek into the back of her shoulder, smirking at the camera while she laughed at Flynn who from behind the camera said, “If you guys weren’t so cute I think I’d actually be disgusted.”

|| **julieandthephantoms: _we’re absolutely STOKED to play at Eats n’ Beats in LA tonight! Just wanted to squash some rumors we’ve been seeing online… rest assured we’re closer than ever_** 🤘🏻👻

* * *

The time for the show rolled around quickly, as the band and Flynn found themselves loading up Reggie’s van and driving over to Eats n’ Beats. Soundcheck went smoothly but it was only when Julie and the boys had just finished their band circle backstage that Flynn came into the greenroom with a strange look on her face.

“Flynn, what’s going on?” Julie asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.

“Has Luke talked to his parents recently?” Flynn asked, her voice falling to a hushed whisper.

Julie glanced over her shoulder at the boys, who were a few feet away joking with each other. “No, I don’t think so,” she said, looking back at Flynn. “Why?”

“Because they’re here, like right now.”

Although Julie had quite literally begged the Patterson’s to come to the show tonight, she wasn’t sure they’d actually come and now that they had… should they tell Luke? Would they talk afterwards? How would Luke feel about it?

“Why are you guys whispering over there?” Reggie spoke up, causing both girls to turn around.

“Uhh… no reason,” Flynn said quickly. “We were just talking about girl stuff.”

“Yeah!” Julie added quickly. “You know… like butterflies and glitter.”

Reggie seemed to accept this answer, but Luke and Alex looked at the girls questioningly. “You both have been acting _really_ weird all day,” Alex said, looking back and forth between them.

Julie took a deep breath, as she couldn’t think of any other way around this. However Luke reacted to what she was going to tell him, she would have to deal with. “When I left this morning, I went to talk to Luke’s parents.”

All three of the boys looked shocked, but she couldn’t get a proper read on Luke. “You went to talk to my _parents?_ ” His tone was beginning to edge toward anger. “Why?”

“I wanted them to come tonight because I thought if they saw us perform, it would show them how talented you are and how well the band is doing and maybe they’d realize they were wrong,” Julie explained. “I know I should’ve talked to you about it because we just had a talk about keeping things from each other, but I’m worried about you, Luke.”

The tension in his shoulders seemed to melt away at her words. “You don’t have to be.”

“But I care about you. We _all_ care about you,” she said, gesturing to their friends. “And I know how much this fight has been affecting you, even if you try not to show it.”

Luke shrugged, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he seemingly tried to make himself smaller. “It’s not a big deal.”

Julie stepped toward him, looking directly into his eyes. “It _is_ a big deal. If it’s something that bothers you, we want to be here for you.” She paused, as Alex and Reggie patted him on the back, something she’d noticed was seemingly their way of communicating without words. “Why do you have to be so stubborn?”

His lips twitched into a small smile that almost reached his eyes. “It’s part of my charm.”

“Oh my God,” Alex groaned, rolling his eyes.

Julie giggled, both at her boyfriend’s comment and Alex’s reaction. “If your parents being here bothers you, we can ask someone to get them to leave. But it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if they _actually_ saw us play, would it?”

“It doesn’t bother me,” Luke said firmly, shaking his head. “Let’s just get out there and give these folks a show they’ll be talking about ’til dawn.”

As Flynn, Reggie and Alex led the way out of the greenroom toward the stage, Julie took Luke’s hand, pulling him back a step.

“Hey,” she said quietly. “If you get nervous up there—“

“Jules, I—“

“ _If_ you get nervous up there, just look right at me, okay?” She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, eliciting the cheesiest grin that made her heart jump in her chest.

Luke leaned toward her quickly and kissed her cheek. “Thanks, boss.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update this story. I do still have another chapter or two in mind, but this story will be ending soon. But!! I do have another Juke story in the works that I've been working on for a while, but I'll give you guys more info about that at the end of this story. Anyway... the updates will still be few and far between because I'm in school but luckily today was an actual snow day!! How crazy. If you're still reading, leaving comments and kudos, I appreciate it greatly. Thanks so much for reading! <3

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think! comments and kudos are greatly appreciated :)


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